


The Split: Tsunako Sawada

by Wingzrooke



Series: The Split: The Series [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Katekyou Hitman Reborn!, Naruto
Genre: F/M, Fem!Tsuanyoshi Sawada, Master-of-death Tsuna/Harry Potter, Multi, No beta we die like illiterates, Sirina Potter-Black incarnation, Split Personalities
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:22:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 50,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24313477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wingzrooke/pseuds/Wingzrooke
Summary: The sequal to : The Split. Can be read without reading The Split, but there may be a bit of confusion. Recommend reading at least the first chapter of The Split first.Sawada Tsunako is not what Reborn is expecting after reading his profile. It quickly becomes clear he will need to change his entire plan to tutor the young heiress. The fact that she seems to have her own secrets and secret agenda doesn't help. Things continue on okay until Reborn gets to his second and third Namimori candidates for Guardianship. It was hard enough to make himself introduce Sasagawa Ryohei as a possible Sun Guardian, when he wanted that position for himself. The way Tsunako refuses to even consider Yamamoto for her Guardian frustrates Reborn. The way she explodes on him for introducing a possible Sun Guardian confuses him. What on earth is going on with Sawada Tsunako, Reborn wonders. He also wonders if this will be the first contract he's failed since starting out. It is certainly the most challenging in a long time. Reborn just wants to finish up his job without getting any more attached and then spend the remainder of his short, cursed life, in peace and chaos. Tsuna just wants him to stop showing her other Guardian Candidates.
Relationships: Gokudera Hayato/Sawada Tsunayoshi, Reborn & Sawada Tsunayoshi, Reborn/Sawada Tsunayoshi
Series: The Split: The Series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1755187
Comments: 109
Kudos: 487
Collections: Katekyou Hitman Rhyne, The Harry Potters





	1. Chapter 1: Introductions

* * *

* * *

# Chapter 1: Introductions

* * *

“Ohayo, TsunaKo (Good morning TsunaKo).” Nana Sawada greeted as the sound of a teenager clumping down the stairs reached the kitchen where Nana cooked.

“ Okayo, Ka-san (Good morning, mom). Breakfast smells wonderful.” The sleepy teenager replied as she reached the bottom of the stairs. Reborn looked over his new student. She was just as he expected. A slender sixteen year old, with long slightly curly black hair and startling emerald eyes. Her skin was pale, although it looked natural and not unhealthy. She also looked half-asleep, eyelids shuttered slightly over almond-shaped eyes.

“Thank you, Tsuna-chan. I hired that tutor I told you about. I’d like to introduce you to Reborn, your new tutor!” Nana announced, and the girl turned to where Nana indicated Reborn. She frowned a little when she saw his diminutive form standing on the counter.

“It can’t be very hygienic to have someone standing on the counter. Also, why aren’t you wearing house slippers?” The girl complained. Reborn immediately kicked her in the head.

“Hiee!” She shrieked, flailing a little as she tried to dodge to the side. Reborn still hit her head with his foot. As though some civilian child could avoid an attack from the World’s Greatest Hitman! He thought scornfully.

“That is not how you properly greet a guest, Dame-Tsuna.” Reborn scolded. It seemed his new student lacked even the basics of manners. He certainly had his work cut out for him, he thought. The girl straightened back up, scowling at Reborn as she gingerly rubbed her head.

“You’re not a guest, you’re an employee. And an employee who is disrespecting our culture, customs, and more importantly Ka-san’s kitchen.” She retorted grumpily. “Ka-san, I’m going to sit at the table.” The girl announced before she stalked into the next room with all the ire of a moody teenager.

“Oh dear. That could have gone better…” Nana mused, hand covering her mouth in dismay.

“Nevermind, Sawada-san. It’ll work itself out. And she was right, I should have changed into house-slippers.” Reborn soothed.

“If you’re sure…” the woman murmured in worry. “I’ll be sure to pick up some slippers in your size today.”

“I appreciate it, Sawada-san.”

“Oh, call me Mama, Reborn-kun.” Nana Sawada insisted with a polite smile. Reborn blinked in surprise at the term of address she’d chosen, but gave in easily. Teaching Tsunako would be easier if he was in her mother’s good books. Especially when the teen started to really complain. While Reborn was thinking, Nana gathered up the assorted dishes and ferried them into the dining room. Reborn followed, and then jumped into the chair next to Tsunako at the six-person table. Despite the chair being sized for a regular person, Reborn found himself grateful it wasn’t a traditional table where one had to sit in seiza for the meal. He’d have done it (today, at least), but his tiny limbs ached often enough from the curse without contorting them into positions they weren’t used to.

Breakfast was a mostly-silent affair, with Nana watching her daughter with eagle-like intensity. Reborn noted that young Tsunako chose mostly meats and a few pickled items, but avoided the miso soup and vegetables. Nana carefully slid a few more vegetables and some rice onto her daughters plate when the teen was distracted. Despite Nana’s attempt at sneaking, the Teen gave her mother a grumpy look from under her bangs. The girl still ate the additions, however. Reborn, as was polite, ate small amounts of everything. At the end of breakfast, the girl left the table with a sleepy

“Oishii, Ka-san. (It was delicious, Mom)”, as well as her dishes. So the girl did have some manners, it would seem. In the kitchen Reborn could hear the sounds of Tsunako rinsing off her dishes. Her mother hadn’t even asked, and Reborn added another mental tally under the girl’s name in his mental list. He hadn’t expected Dame-Tsuna to help out around the house.

“More miso, Reborn-kun?” Nana offered.

“Kekkou desu, onaka ga ippai (No thank you, I’m full).” Reborn replied politely, before bowing slightly. “Gochisōsama deshita (Thank you for this delicious meal).” He added sincerely. He wasn’t about to be outdone by his student in manners.

“You’re quite welcome, Reborn-kun.” Nana agreed, standing and gathering up both her dishes and Reborn’s before Reborn could gather his own. Nana ferried his dishes into the kitchen, and Reborn followed curious to see what would happen now. Since Tsunako and Nana’s profiles were given to him by Iemitsu, their husband and father respectively, Reborn had chosen to forgo his usual pre-op surveillance. Which meant he got to observe most of their life up-close-and-personal for the first time. It also meant he didn’t know their routine yet.

When Nana reached the sink, she gently displaced her daughter, sending the girl upstairs to get ready for school. Reborn found it strange that the Sawadas ate breakfast in their pajamas, but perhaps the youngest Sawada needed the energy to finish waking up? He followed Tsunako up to her bedroom. It was time to introduce her to the real reason he was here. Or rather, the main reason. When he closed the bedroom door behind himself, he found Tsuna riffling around in her dresser. She startled up and turned to face him, frowning slightly.

“Look, Reborn-Katekyo (Reborn-tutor), I know you’re small, but that doesn’t mean you can just barge into my room!” She exclaimed in irritation. “What if I’d been changing?!”

“Actually, I’m a hitman.” Reborn announced (ignoring her question), and the girl’s face was a study between sleepy incredulity and disbelief. The sleepiness cleared quickly at his words, however. Reborn was impressed that so far neither Nanna nor Tsunako had laughed at the ‘baby’ Home Tutor. For Nana, at least, she didn’t seem to see any reason why a ‘baby’ could be a home-tutor. Tsunako…he wasn’t sure yet. She had been mostly asleep so far this morning. He would wait and see.

“A Hitman? Right.” She repeated flatly, and he braced himself for the comments about his age and size once more. “If you’re a hitman, why are you working as a tutor?”

“I train Mafia Bosses.” Reborn completely ignored the question once again. He didn’t answer to her afterall. “I have been ordered by the boss of the Vongola Family, Vongola IX, to teach you how to become a strong Mafia Boss.”

“…Why? I mean, I’m not even related to any Vongolas! Nor am I part of the Mafia…why would some person I’ve never met want me to lead their family?” Tsuna demanded.

“The founder of the Vongola family retired and moved to Japan. He was your great-great-great-grandfather. You are definitely related to the Vongola Family. You are an official heir of the Vongola Family’s Bloodline, in fact.” He corrected without a pause, pulling out a family tree and showing it to her.

“Giotto…Ieyasu…Yoshimune…Yoshinobu…Ietsuna…Iemitsu…Tsunako…” She read. “Wait, if I’m related through Iemitsu, why can’t he become the mafia boss? Or these other people through Giotto’s other side? Enrico, Massimo, or Federico?”

“Your father is ineligible. And the other three are dead.” Reborn finally deigned to answer one of her questions. “You are the only possible remaining heir.” He added, narrowing his eyes at her dangerously. The girl pursed her lips slightly. “Don’t worry, I’ll teach you how to be a strong Mafia Boss.” He added with a smirk, fully aware that her worry wasn’t over whether or not she’d be strong. “You should hurry if you don’t want to be late.” He added with a smirk, and the girl looked to the clock in a knee-jerk reaction.

“Hieeee!” She shrieked, causing Reborn to wince. Sensitive hearing could be a burden, sometimes. “I’ll be late!” this second shriek also hurt his ears. Tsunako ignored him, however, as she pulled her undergarments from her drawers, grabbed a clean and pressed uniform from the hanger, and bolted for the bathroom. Just ten minutes later she was dashing from the bathroom to the front door, pulling her hair into a ponytail as she went. Reborn narrowed his eyes. According to her profile, Tsunako should not be capable of such athletic and smooth movements without falling on her face and tumbling down the stairs. Yet she reached the front door without incident and quickly switched from slippers to outdoor shoes. After grabbing the backpack that rested by the front door, Tsunako departed.

“itte kimasu!” Tsunako called as she went out the door. Reborn slipped through just before the doorway shut behind the teen, and hopped up onto the wall separating the street from the yards. He kept pace with her, idly noting the Chihuahua in the next yard as it started to growl. According to her profile, Tsunako was terrified of the tiny creature. But so far the profile had been wrong about Tsunako here and there. Reborn watched intently as the tiny dog shoved the gate slightly open and walked out into the street.

“Ah, your leash!” Tsuna exclaimed, and Reborn was rather stunned to see sparkles appear in the air around the girl as she smiled down at the animal. Careful not to dirty her skirt, Tsuna knelt down and held out a hand to the dog. “Your family would be rather sad if you ran away, neh? I’d better put you back in the yard, okay?” Tsuna murmured cheerfully as the dog cautiously sniffed her hand. The tiny tail started to wag as Tsuna petted it twice on the head before gently picking up the leash from the ground. Tsuna quickly walked the dog back into it’s yard before securing the gate so it couldn’t get out.

“Yo! Did the Himura’s Dog get out again?” A cheerful voice called, causing both Reborn and Tsuna to turn their attention back to the street.

“Ohayo, Yamamoto-kun! (Good morning, Yamamato)” Tsuna greeted cheerfully, little dancing flowers joining the sprakles all around Tsunako. “Hai (yes), I was just returning it to the yard before heading to school. Are you heading to practice, Yamamoto-kun?” Tsuna replied politely. The teen, a tall slim boy with a cheerful smile and empty eyes, nodded cheerfully.

“Hai (yes). I should probably get going.” He agreed before turning and taking off in a run. “Don’t want to be late!” He called back over his shoulder as he went. The sparkles and flowers were suddenly gone, and Reborn wondered if it was some sort of Mist effect. When he flared his own flames out to check for Mist flames, however, he didn’t find any. If it was done with Mist flames, they were in extremely small amounts for such big effects.

“That’s the boy you have a crush on, isn’t it?” Reborn inquired idly, and the girl turned to him in surprise.

“Yamamoto-kun? He’s our school’s male idol sure, but….not really.” She replied, head tilted to the side in a cute fashion and smiling at him again. Sparkles appeared in the air around her once more, and Reborn blinked as traces of Sky flames surrounded him. It seems some flames must have slipped out of the seal. Or perhaps it had been cracked already…?

“There’s no need to lie to me, Dame-Tsuna. As your tutor, I have to know about your relationships.” He scolded slightly.

“I don’t remember ever hiring you.” She retorted. “Just drop it, already.” She grumbled.

“I can’t do that.” He replied solemnly. “I always complete my contract. Also, I was hired by Vongola IX, as I told you. Have you told Yamamoto Takeshi how you feel about him?”

“Of course not, and I don’t like him. Why tell him anything when he’s just a classmate?”

“Well, I can see why you wouldn’t want to admit how you feel. With your average test score of 17.5, only being able to vault over three boxes, and being unable to do a full chin-up….you really are a Dame (loser) who sucks at everything.” Reborn mused, once again ignoring Tsuna’s input.

“Why do you know so much about me! And it’s not a case of not wanting to admit it! I genuinely do not have a crush on Yamamoto-kun!”

“Your eyes tell me everything.” Reborn replied, pulling out a big green magnifying glass from…somewhere, and holding it up as though to look into Tsuna’s magnified eyes. He loved messing with people.

“No they don’t. Or if they do, you’re mistranslating them. Seriously, how do you know my test scores and things?! And forget about Yamamoto-kun!”

“You really think like a Dame.” Reborn sighed. “I guess this is where I come in.”

“W-what?”

“Just die once.” Reborn stated, reaching up and plucking the chameleon off his hat. As he lowered his hand, the chameleon transformed form lizard to gun.

“When you die, you’ll understand.” He informed his student.

“What are you--?” She shrieked and flailed as the gun went off. Somehow, during her flailing, she tripped and fell, causing the bullet to just miss her.

“Hieeee! Don’t shoot at me, that’s dangerous!” The girl wailed, as she turned and began to run. Every so often, ‘coincidentally’ whenever he shot at her, the girl would trip and catch herself on the ground or a nearby object. This meant that his bullets never hit her. Not once. Tsunako made it all the way to school and into her classroom, sitting down just before the bell went off. Reborn frowned, tugging his hat down over his eyes in thought. While he thought, Leon transformed back to a chameleon, and he placed the lizard gently back onto his hat.

“ _Just how did a civilian girl whose flames had been sealed dodge every single one of his bullets? And why was her profile so wrong?”_ He wondered silently to himself. Regretfully he decided he should have done his own research on the girl. It seemed that the CEDEF’s information network was no longer what it used to be. He could hardly believe their information on a Vongola Heir was so wrong! Except…it was Iemitsu who’d compiled the information, and the man could be an idiot at the best of times. Grimly he shook those thoughts off. He would need to focus on the next part of his plan: Drawing in guardians.

In order to draw in Guardians, he had to make Tsunako look like someone interesting, talented, and strong. So he needed to change her place in the school’s social hierarchy. He’d concocted several schemes to accomplish this, unfortunately the first had failed. Yamamoto Takeshi was an ideal Rain Guardian, a natural hitman. He was also easy-going enough that if Tsunako had confessed to him, it wouldn’t have prevented him from becoming her Rain Guardian. Whether or not he agreed to go out with her. The antics a person went through when in ‘deathperation mode’ likely would also have attracted several other guardian candidates. No matter, he was the world’s greatest hitman. He’d simply move on to one of his other plans. Since her profile was so off, he’d spend today observing her at school. Building a profile took time, but would be worth it in the long run.

* * *

As was fast becoming a pattern, Tsunako did not act in classes how he expected. Mostly her peers left her alone, unlike the bullying he’d been told to expect. She also didn’t seem to be as stupid as the profile and her test scores would suggest. Almost as soon as Tsuna sat down at her desk, the girl fell asleep with her head nestled on her arms. The teacher for the day frowned at the sleeping girl, but didn’t bother to wake her up. He noted the teacher wrote down a zero for the day and continued on. Tsunako only woke up for lunch, and the one quiz they had that day. She wouldn’t have even woken up for the quiz, except the student in front of Tsunako woke her up to hand the stack of papers to her. The teachers didn’t bother with Tsunako, seemingly having written her off as ‘hopeless’. At the end of the day Tsunako exchanged some Yen with Kurokawa Hana for a list of the prescribed homework before she shuffled out the door, yawning. Reborn joined the girl just outside the school gate, not commenting on what he’d seen so far today.

Once home, Tsunako changed into house slippers and went to her room after greeting her mother. Tsunako dropped her book bag by the front door, seemingly having every intention of ignoring homework. He wondered why she bothered to get the list of homework if she wasn’t going to do it…. Reborn grabbed her backpack and lugged it up the stairs behind himself. Once he reached her room, he found her sitting on the floor in front of her low-table. When he walked around the side, he noted she was idly playing a game on her phone. Reborn frowned, opened up the backpack, withdrew the homework and textbooks, then hopped up on the table. The books and worksheets were unceremoniously dropped in front of the girl, who jumped at the thud and appearance of objects.

“Reborn…?”

“Time to do your homework, Tsunako-chan.” He stated firmly.

“But that’s so boring!” She grumbled.

“Boring but necessary.” With a sigh, the girl pulled one of the worksheets over to herself. She took the pen Reborn handed her and quickly began to fill out the worksheet. In a few minutes she’d finished her English worksheet and she pulled her science homework over while Reborn took the English homework to check over. To be honest he was rather surprised she’d finished it so quickly, and without help. After looking over the worksheet, Reborn was even more surprised to find no mistakes. Reborn reviewed each piece of homework once she completed it, and was further surprised to find very few mistakes. She was clearly able to do B+ to A- work _at least_ on her own. Mostly she seemed to have a problem with memorizing dates (like on her history homework), and there a few simple mistakes in math. She had different classes tomorrow, so there would probably be a few more weaknesses but so far her academics were vastly different from what he’d been told to expect.

Silently Reborn resolved to shoot Iemitsu several times in extremely uncomfortable places. It was worse than just uninformed; the man had given him completely incorrect information! True, the girl didn’t make good grades, but that seemed to be more a motivation problem than any real trouble learning. Reborn ran the girl through drills for the dates, showed her where she’d gone wrong on the math and then wrote down several similar problems on a separate sheet and ran her through drills of them. About partway through their tutoring session Nana brought in snacks for them both. Tsunako eyed him warily, like she thought he might try and steal all the snacks instead of sharing. The idea had occurred to him, of course, but he was trying to build a profile of the girl before he changed things up.

“It’s a nice Evening, Reborn-kun. Would you like to come with me on my walk?” Tsunako asked politely, sparkles surrounding her once more.

“Very well.” Reborn agreed, startled. The girl had mostly slept through the day or gazed out the window, so Reborn wasn’t expecting the girl to go exercise. He joined her on her walk around Namimori town, where she walked around three of the quarters.

“Not going to walk around all four quarters of Namimori?” He questioned, and Tsunako shook her head.

“No, Ka-san doesn’t like me going near the bad part of town, so I stay away from the North-West Quarter.” She explained as they re-entered the South-West Quarter and made there way back to the house. The remainder of the evening was fairly boring, comprising of dinner, bath, and then bed.

Had Tsunako been a boy, Reborn would have stolen his bed and let Tsunako take a futon on the floor. Since she was a girl, however, he’d stealthily had her bedroom window glass replaced with bullet-proof glass during the school day. Now Leon turned himself into a hammock in the back left side corner of the room. Reborn jumped up into the hammock and pretended to fall asleep immediately. When Tsuna got back from getting ready for bed, the girl took a pillow from her bed and walked over to Reborn.

“Reborn-hitoman?” She murmured softly. Reborn stirred slightly. He knew she would be able to see at least a little bit, due to the light from the hallway showing through the door being open a crack. The light spilled onto the pale wooden floor and reflected slightly off the white walls, as well. It was a room made to be light and airy, even at night.

 _“Let’s see how persistent she is.”_ He thought.

“I have a pillow for you, Reborn-san.” She murmured softly. Reborn didn’t twitch. With a soft sigh the girl gently slipped her hand beneath his head and neck before lifting him slightly and placing the pillow underneath. Once it was positioned, she gently retreated to the hallway, where she grabbed a blanket and then draped it over him.

“Yoi yume wo, Reborn-san. (Sweet dreams, Reborn-san).” She whispered before she crawled into her own bed. Reborn waited until her breathing dropped into the steady cadence of one who was asleep, then whispered back:

“Yoi yume wo, Tsuna-chan. (Sweet dreams, Tsuna-chan)”

* * *

The next morning began early. Very early, indeed. Tsuna’s phone vibrated under her pillow at three AM. She silenced her phone and slipped from the bed. Thankfully her phone’s alarm hadn’t woken Reborn, so Tsuna was free to follow her morning schedule for a Tuesday. She quickly changed into workout clothes, grabbed a water bottle and a banana from the kitchen before she set out on an early morning run. Tsuna ran twice around the three quarters of Namimori before she stopped in a small clearing in the forest just outside the S.W. Quarter where she lived. Tsuna didn’t always like having reincarnated a bunch of times, but she did always appreciate the gifts and techniques she’d learned from living in those other realities. This morning she was working on her Ninja skills – mostly just keeping them sharp. She practiced her kunai, senbon, and shuriken throwing on a few nearby trees and then ran through her katas.

Once that was done, Tsuna quickly drew her hands into the familiar cross-shaped sign. With an almost-silent ‘poof’, two clones popped into existence. The infamous Uzumaki Shadow clones were by far the most useful technique she’d learned. Nobody multi-tasked like the former Uzumaki Rin. It helped that she’d learned to reinforce her clones with Mist and Cloud flames. No longer did her clones simply dispel upon the slightest impact. Now they lasted exactly as long as she wanted them too. One clone headed back to the house and down into Tsuna’s workshop via the door at the back of the house. The “door” was situated just behind the house, and was really more of a cover above a set of stairs that led down into the basement where Tsuna’s workshop was. That clone Tsuna had instructed to work on their online schooling. Just because she’d been content with making the grades her father saw look terrible didn’t mean she wanted her actual grades to be bad. The schooling she actually put effort into was all online, and Tsuna’d taken great pains to insure her father wouldn’t find out about that schooling. Skies with seals, after all, weren’t able to learn very well.

The second clone was sent to keep working on brushing up on old skills. Tsuna smirked a little as she gave that clone it’s orders. From the silver-grey eyes Ko looked back at her. Apparently her split felt it would be useful for her to be the one practicing, instead of a regular clone. Tsuna agreed, in theory. If Reborn was here to train her, she would probably soon be drawn into some type of fighting. She would definitely be thrown into Chaos, as well. Her skills would need to be sharp. She always felt uneasy when her other half wasn’t with her, though. With a wave, Tsuna bid goodbye to Ko.

In their last lifetime together, Tsuna was called Sirina “Ri” Potter-Black, and Ko was Pandora. They hadn’t expected The Split gift to come with them into the next lifetime, but when it had they’d both decided on which name each of them would take. They’d made the decision together, just like they had the first time. Just like it was supposed to be.

With training of various sorts taken up by the clones, Tsuna made her own way back to the house. She greeted Sasagawa Ryohei, an upperclassman on his own morning run, on her way back. Once home, Tsuna quickly showered and changed into her uniform for the day. That done, Tsuna quickly strode down to the kitchen. It was her turn to make breakfast, after all.

Tsuna was in the process of setting the rice in to cook when she heard her ka-san’s shower start up. She checked the clock to see it was the usual time Ka-san showered, and smiled. Idly she wondered what time Reborn would wake up. As Tsuna stirred the Miso soup, she directed small tendrils of Sky flame into the mixture. She learned many lifetimes ago that adding tiny amounts of Sky flames to her food made it taste better, helped all members of her family get along, and also made people more friendly to her. About half-way through her mom’s usual morning bathroom time, Tsuna started to grind up the espresso beans. As she ground, she slipped some more Sky flames into the process.

 _“I wonder if Reborn will notice the Sky flames in the food and drinks?”_ She thought to herself. Once the Espresso machine was set to working, Tsuna turned herself back to what she’d been doing.

* * *

Reborn waited semi-impatiently for his student to finish up in the bathroom. Apparently her ten minutes in the bathroom the day before had been a one-off. Eventually he really had to use the toilet and could hold it in no longer. Briskly he knocked on the door. Thankfully the shower had shut off fifteen minutes ago, so it was unlikely the girl was still dressing. The door cracked open and to Reborn’s surprise it was Nana who peeked out from the opening.

“Eh, Reborn? I’m almost done. Did you need something?” The woman chirped.

“I need to use the toilet.” Reborn informed her, flushing slightly.

“Oh! Sorry, the shower in my bathroom is currently broken. The toilet works fine in there, though. Feel free to use the bathroom in my bedroom.” Nana offered.

“Thank you, Mama.” He muttered before hurrying into the bathroom he hadn’t known about. It was only when he saw Nana and Iemitsu’s bathroom that he realized the Sawada household’s bathrooms were a bit strange. Unlike the normal, where the toilet/sink were in a separate room from the shower/tub, the Sawada’s main bathroom was all in one. In Nana’s room it was separated by a glass wall and door. Reborn quickly took care of his business before he went back to Tsuna’s bedroom and quickly changed. The smell of espresso lured Reborn down to the kitchen, where to his surprise he found Tsunako cooking.

“You cook?” He questioned, and Tsuna smiled at him, Flowers and Sparkles once more filling the air around her.

“Yes. I help out Ka-san once or twice a week so she can sleep in a bit.” Tsuna chirped, and Reborn had a flashback to Nana using the same tone. “I also made bento for each of us today. I hope you like yours, I made it special.” Tsuna informed him with an excited smile, as she took a Yellow plastic bento box from the fridge. She opened it up to show to him, and Reborn found himself oddly touched at the sight. On top of rice she had laid pork shogaiyaki in two straight lines to make a pair of crisscrossing branches with spinach leaves to make tree leaves. Out on one of the branches the rice had been died green by mixing parsley with it and molded into the shape of Leon. It even had a very tiny fedora sitting on it with a orange ribbon. There was other food in the bento as well, of course, but it was the little Leon look-alike that really touched Reborn.

“I love it. Thank you, Tsunako-chan. That was very thoughtful of you.” He murmured quietly, feeling a bit of a lump in his throat.

“You’re welcome! I’m glad you like it. I hope you like the taste too!” Tsuna giggled, sparkles filling the air around her as she smiled at him. Then Tsuna put the bento away in the fridge before she turned to get a mug from the counter. When she turned back and handed him an espresso, Reborn was again touched but also suspicious.

“Why did you make me Espresso?” He demanded quietly, directing the tiniest bit of killing intent at her.

“Oh, do you not like it? _That man_ drinks it whenever he’s home, if he’s not getting drunk. Ka-san bought espresso beans yesterday, so I thought they were for you. Neither Ka-san nor I drink Espresso or coffee, and _that man_ isn’t here…..” She worried, beginning to retract the hand holding the espresso. Reborn quickly snatched the mug from her hands before it left his reach.

“I do like espresso, I was just surprised.” He grumped before taking a sip of the heavenly nectar. He nearly dropped the mug, however, when he tasted the pure Sky flames mixed in.

 _“Civilian, civilian, civilian. There’s no way she could know what mixing Sky flames into something she made herself for me to consume means in the Mafia.”_ He chanted silently to himself, but unable to refrain from taking another sip and savoring the taste of espresso and Sky flame as it slipped smoothly over his tongue and down his throat.

“How is it? I’m sure it’s not as good as espresso from Italy, but I worked really hard at learning how to make it!” She worried.

“It’s excellent.” Reborn replied automatically. No element worth their salt would insult Sky-food or Sky-drinks regardless of whether they wanted to bond with the Sky in question or not. Thinking of Sky-food, he wondered if there were Sky flames in the bento as well…likely the girl had no idea she was even leaking Sky flames.

 _“If I weren’t cursed…I would definitely pursue a Sky like this. With these pure flames, she could attract any element she wanted. It won’t be hard to get strong guardians for her._ ” He admitted silently to himself, feeling a bitter pull in his stomach, but refusing to acknowledge his disappointment and envy. Instead he withdrew a notebook from his pocket and displayed it before Tsunako’s surprised face.

“You’re schedule for today.” He announced, and Tsunako spared him a startled glance before reading the schedule allowed.

“Morning: the Introduction of a new Transfer Student. Afternoon: Volleyball Match. We’re getting a new student? I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to support the Volleyball club. They’ve been doing pretty well this season, and I am a reserve player after all.” Tsuna mused cheerfully.

“That’s right, Tsunako. As your tutor it’s my job to improve your social skills as well. So make sure to stay awake in class today.” Reborn instructed. Tsuna just beamed one of her ‘Sky smiles’ at him, sparkles and dancing flowers appearing all around her while she gave him an innocent look that seemed to say ‘who, me? I always pay attention during class’. Reborn ignored the silent and obviously false message.

“Good. Also, the volleyball team was suddenly short of members this morning, so they called and asked you to play. Apparently all the other reserve players ordered pizza from the same place and got upset stomachs. So the only reserve player left was you.” He stated firmly, before he went to join Nana (who was finally done with her morning routine) in the dining room. The breakfast that morning was just as silent as the day before, excepting that both females were up, dressed, and awake.

“Tsuna-chan is playing today? Maybe Ka-san should come and support her.” Nana cheered.

“Ka-san has the monthly Namimori Home-Mother’s Association meeting today at the same time.” Tsunako reminded her mom calmly. Nana pouted.

“Aww, Ka-san wanted to see her little Tsunako kicking butt!” the mother cried, tears pouring down her face. Tsunako patted Nana’s back absently.

“It’s okay, Ka-san, I know you’ll be cheering me on in your heart.” Tsunako soothed.

“Ka-san definitely will!” Nana exclaimed, suddenly standing from her chair and with fires of passion flaming in her eyes as she raised both arms up with the elbows at ninety degrees. “Ka-san will take care of all the dishes this morning, Tsu-chan, you just get to school and prepare for that Volleyball game!” Reborn watched somewhat incredulously as Nana ushered her startled daughter out the door. He also found himself swept along and propelled outside before the door closed behind them. Thankfully Tsunako was able to grab her backpack and both their bentos before being hustled on their way. It would have been a very long day if neither of them were able to eat.

* * *

* * *


	2. Chapter 2: A Second Introduction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not an update, just adding a pic.

* * *

* * *

# Chapter 2: A Second Introduction

* * *

A slow smirk curled Tsuna’s lips as her gaze locked onto the silver haired boy before her with a startling intensity. For just a moment, Reborn thought something darkened his new student’s eyes, but then the girl was all sunshine smiles once more. He must have been imagining it, he thought.

“Why, Reborn, you shouldn’t have.” She smiled. Reborn blinked as sparkles and hearts appeared in the air around Tsuna. He still hasn’t figured out if Tsuna actually had Mist flames, or how the effect was achieved. Reborn, feeling slightly stupefied, blinked at Tsuna.

“Shouldn’t have what?” He asked tersely, feeling a strange sense of foreboding but unable to place why. All he saw was a cute, innocent girl blinking up at him.

“Gotten me such a cute present!” She replied with a grin.

“What.” Gokudera demanded flatly.

“What.” Reborn repeated, stunned.

“I’m not a present, I’m here to challenge you for the Vongola Headship!” Gokudera, gamely sticking to their script, lit up a dynamite while scowling. He proceeded to throw dynamite everywhere, except he didn’t hit her directly of course. The nearest dynamite to her person was about two feet away from her.

“Cute.” Tsuna smiled, and both men felt slightly stupefied. Sparkles once more filled the air. Then, without being shot, Tsuna somehow walked between, around, and over all the dynamite Gokudera threw, putting out wicks with her shoes as she went. She didn’t seem to speed up at all, her movements casual and relaxed. Somehow, though, she still moved faster than normal eyesight would be able to track. She moved forward at almost inhuman speeds until her fingers pressed out the wicks on the triple-bomb in Gokudera’s hands.

Not to be deterred, and knowing Reborn had hired Gokudera to provide a chance at igniting her flames via bullet, he pulled a knife, going for close combat. In seconds the girl had the boy face-down on the ground, one arm pinned above him and the hand that formerly held the knife twisted up behind his back.

 _“You know,”_ she whispered into Gokudera’s ear _“I could kill you right now, and even Reborn wouldn’t blink.”_ Gokudera braced himself, but a shudder still worked its way down his spine. To Gokudera’s embarrassment, the idea thrilled him a little: this petite sky of sunshine smiles currently pining him to the ground and whispering death threats in his ear.

 _“But I won’t.”_ She added lightly. _“Because you’re mine, now. Aren’t you, **Smoking Bomb Gokudera Hayato**?” _She added, most of the words in her usual tone but dropping off into a slightly smokier, huskier, voice towards the end.

“Yes.” He rasped back; throat oddly tight. “Always.” He added, and then to both Gokudera and Reborn’s shock, Tsuna began to glow. Sky flames emanated gently from her body and then shone down on Gokudera. Hayato felt as her flames gently surrounded him, like the warmest of hugs. His own flames, all five of them, eagerly responded. They flooded up from his body to wrap and twist around and through her Sky flames. He felt all of his flames bind to her, five bonds clicking into place in his soul. Storm, Rain, Sun, Lightning, and Cloud cleaving a space in her soul and her Sky containing all of his.

“My Sky.” He gasped in amazement.

“ ** _MINE._** _”_ She agreed, and then she tilted her head slightly, nuzzling under his shoulder length hair and bit down on the junction between his neck and shoulder. Gokudera gasped at the pain of the bite, and then whimpered so softly even he could barely hear it as he felt some sort of energy he didn’t recognize pool just under his skin. His new sky released her bite, then licked the site once. He felt a strand of her sky siphon off some of his Sun flames and then funnel them through herself and onto the bite. It itched as the cells rapidly reformed so that no scar remained.

The girl easily backed off Gokudera, and he rolled over to sit up, forgotten knife striking oddly for a moment against the ground as he used that hand to lever himself up. Carefully, keeping his gaze locked on the petite Sky, he raised a hand to his neck. Where she’d bitten him, there seemed to be some sort of odd definitely-not-teeth-shaped series of slightly raised shapes there.

“My mark.” She explained, and for a fraction of a second, his new Sky’s eyes shone the vibrant radio-active-esque purple of a powerful Cloud flame. Hayato felt his own eyes swirl a deep purple in reply, and the girl smiled at him. “What should I call you?” She asked coyly.

“Anything you want, my Sky.” He answered immediately. The girl made a ‘tch’ sound, clucking her tongue to the top of her mouth. Hayato feared he had already disappointed her, in not picking a name for her to call. But it was tradition for the Sky to pick what the Guardian was called. Especially in the Vongola Famiglia. It wasn’t his place to choose what she or others would call him now.

“You won’t mind me calling you ‘Haya’ then, will you?” She asked playfully. Gokudera felt himself blush to the roots of his hair. Such a familiar name! Especially for a someone of Japanese culture! She hadn’t even added a suffix! He felt so touched and honored!

“I would be honored if you called me Haya, Tenth!” He answered loudly. Her lips twisted slightly in displeasure, and Hayato’s heart dropped down to his shoes once more. What had he done wrong now? Being a Guardian was a lot harder than people made it sound, despite the fact that he’d memorized all the Mafia rules of etiquette a long time ago, including the ones for Guardians. Maybe the etiquette between western guardians and those in Japan differed?

 **“You are mine now. You may call me Tsu, Tsuna, Tsu-hime, Tsuna-hime, or Hime. Do _not_ call me tenth. I am more than my relation to Vongola.” **She corrected in that slightly-raspy slightly-deeper voice from before. Gokudera dropped his head to the ground.

“My apologies, Hime! I will not repeat this mistake! Please forgive me!” He cried, and Tsuna’s lips twisted back up to a smile. She set a gentle hand on his head, combing through his hair lightly.

“Forgiven, Haya.” She soothed and removed her hand, drawing a small whine from Hayato’s throat. “Please get up.” She urged, and he immediately straightened into a kneeling position. His Sky leaned forward and gently brushed the dirt off his forehead. A blush burned its way across his cheeks.

“Ah, thank you, Hime.” He stuttered. She smiled at him again, dancing flowers and sparkles appearing in the air around her. Gracefully she rose to her feet and extended a hand to him. His blush deepened slightly as he slipped his hand into hers and she helped pull him to his feet.

“You’re welcome. Now, we shouldn’t linger too long. Hibari-san won’t appreciate us breaking the rules by sticking around after school. Where are you staying, Haya?” Tsuna’s cheerful voice snapped Gokudera out of his flustered state.

“In the North-West quarter.” He admitted bashfully.

“In the northern or southern side?” Tsuna prodded. Gokudera flushed again, but this time in shame.

“The north-western side of the North West Quarter, by the warehouse district.” He admitted gruffly.

“That won’t do. Gather up your things, you’ll be moving into one of my house’s extra bedrooms.” Tsuna ordered.

“Hime! I wouldn’t dare…!” He started to protest, but Tsuna turned from him to face Reborn.

* * *

“It’s a Sky’s and a Boss’s job to look after their people, right Reborn? I wouldn’t be good at either if I neglected my first guardian.” She demanded. Reborn was tempted to deny it, he felt Gokudera should have time to prove himself to her, but there was a hidden sharpness in her eyes that said she would insist either way. Her current behavior was _very_ different from what he expected from his student. Even if it had only been a day since he met her. Something strange was going on with Tsunako, and he was determined to find out what. So, for now, he would play her game.

“That’s right, Tsuna.” Reborn agreed, eyes glinting at Gokudera. Gokudera’s shoulders slumped slightly. _Smart boy_ , Reborn thought.

“Alright. I’ll go gather my things.” He agreed.

“I’ll go ahead and make sure things are prepared for you.” Tsuna grinned, and Gokudera bowed quickly.

“Yes, Hime!” He cried. “I won’t keep you waiting!” He added, previous enthusiasm emerging once more. Gokudera looked at Reborn thoughtfully, eyes silently asking a question, to which Reborn nodded. Yes, he would protect his student while her guardian was gone. He would protect his student even if her guardian or guardians were present, too. No need to tell the brat that, though. Without another word, the boy turned and sprinted away. Reborn tilted his hat down over his face, resisting the urge to snicker at the brat using sun flames to make himself run faster and cloud flames to multiply how far he could go each step.

Once he’d regained control over himself, Reborn contemplated his strange student from beneath his hat. The girl in question was back to her usual innocent, sparkly self once more. Currently she was humming lightly under her breath and rocking back and forth on her feet, seemingly waiting on Reborn.

“Neh, Reborn?” She called, and Reborn made his attention on her more obvious.

“Yes, Tsuna?”

“Thanks for the gift. I like him.” She informed him, sparkles and hearts appearing around her in the air. Her big green eyes seemed to widen even more, shining down at him in delight. Reborn resisted the urge to rub his eyes. Instead he spread his sun flames out around them, checking for the presence of Mist flames. None showed up. If she was using Mist flames (or someone else was using them on her), it was an incredibly small amount for such a big effect. Reborn rained himself back in to focus on her words.

“People are not gifts, Tsuna.” He scolded, frowning in irritation. Tsuna rolled her eyes at him.

“No, but you did introduce us. An introduction certainly counts as a gift. You didn’t charge me for it, after all.” The girl replied cheerfully. Reborn was forced to concede the point, despite not being certain she was considering the introduction the gift instead of the person. “We should really get back now. I need to prepare the extra room before Haya gets to my house. Neh, Reborn, does Haya even know where my house is?”

* * *

Once back in the crappy apartment he’d rented out for the week, Hayato picked up his backpack. Having Shamal as a mentor had payed off, the backpack was able to hold and conceal everything Hayato could need. Thankfully Hayato had only bothered to keep out his two school uniforms, including socks and shoes. Everything else was stored either in his backpack or on his person. With the ease of long practice Hayato ignored the moldy walls, the dingy ceiling, the disgusting carpet as he took one last quick scan of the one-room apartment. Seeing nothing more left laying around, Hayato quickly left the apartment. He locked up as he left, but didn’t turn the keys in to the landlord. He’d paid through the end of the week, after all, and the payment was non-refundable. Who knows, it might come in handy for his new Boss at some point.

The thought of his new Sky made Hayato shift slightly in discomfort. He didn’t like leaving his new Sky with only Reborn for protection. Well, truthfully, he didn’t doubt Reborn’s ability to protect her. But Reborn wasn’t her guardian, and it wasn’t her contract he currently worked. Someone hired by a relative, even one’s presumably loving parent, could not be trusted like a Guardian. Hayato had no clue what had been written into Reborn’s contract, but having a Hitman serve as a tutor generally meant there was a kill clause somewhere in said contract.

Hayato stepped off the front steps of his apartment, ready to go find his Sky, only to pause in surprise. Where did she live….? He felt like hitting himself for not getting the address to meet Hime at. No doubt she thought Reborn had given Hayato all the important information about herself. He resolved to make sure he had all the important information in the future. He knew she didn’t live in the North-West Quarter, because she wouldn’t have had a problem with him living there if she did. So that left only three quarters. Well, it only left three quarters if he eliminated the areas outside the quarters. Mostly those areas were businesses, parks, and the really old homes of rich people. It was probably best to start with the Quarters, though. The Sawada family were supposed to be hidden, after all, and the first place someone would look for a branch of the Vongola family was in the rich homes.

Just as Hayato was about to start a fast but systematic grid search of the remaining three quadrants, his phone buzzed. Quickly Hayato fished the phone out of his pocket. The first thing he saw after unlocking his phone was a text from Reborn. Feeling relief, Gokudera Hayato quickly swiped open the text.

* * *

“Tadaima!” Tsuna called upon entering the house.

“Tadaima.” Reborn echoed more quietly while Tsuna sat and took her shoes off in the entranceway. She could practically feel Reborn’s anticipation to how she would get her mother to agree to Haya living with them. She snickered quietly. Playing with Reborn and his expectations was so fun! He hadn’t even figured out the most important thing about them yet, she thought.

“Okaeri!” Mama called from the kitchen. “I’ve almost finished some snacks, please wash up!” Tsuna’s mother added cheerfully. Her mouth started to salivate at the thought of her Mama’s snacks. It’s true that Tsuna was an excellent cook herself, some said her cooking even surpassed her mother’s. But there was a special quality about food she didn’t have to make for herself.

“Kaa-san, I made a new friend today! His name is Gokudera Hayato-kun, and I invited him to live with us. He doesn’t have a family of his own, and he was forced to rent in the North-West Quarter.” Tsuna informed her mother casually while she strolled into the kitchen. She trailed a hand idly along the white wall of the hallway as she went, her house-slippers making a soft ‘thup, thup’ sound as she walked across the wooden floor. Reborn followed once he’d exchanged his own shiny Italian shoes for house slippers as well. He frowned at the announcement, and Tsuna knew he was wondering why her mother didn’t seem surprised, worried, or upset at Tsuna’s announcement.

 ** _“He’ll figure out soon enough that we run this household. We take orders from no one.”_** Her Split, Ko-san, remarked darkly via their Mist flames while snickering. Thankfully Tsuna was the one in charge of their body right now, so the thought and snickering was only in their mind. It seemed Ko was able to transfer back and forth between their body and the bodies of their clones via Mist flames whenever she wanted. Tsuna felt a bit of relief at the thought. It also made her wonder if she could do the same while Ko was in charge of their body…but she filed that thought away for later.

 _“Well, that and someone messed with Ka-san’s head so badly that she just accepts whatever a member of the family tells her. Bet our sperm-donor just told him Mama’s oblivious.”_ Tsuna thought back to Ko-san. Both of them simmered with anger at the thought of what had been done to their current Mother. They’d had many mothers throughout their different incarnations, but this was one of the few who lived past Tsuna’s infancy. They both thought they’d have liked to meet her before some Mist had ruined her mind.

“Oh, how wonderful, Tsu-chan! Which room were you thinking of putting him in?” Her mother, as predicted, cheered. Tsuna tilted her head to the side thoughtfully.

“I thought I’d put him in the room next to mine. Originally I was going to put Reborn there, but he insisted that as my body guard he needed to be in the same room.” Tsuna replied with a shrug. “Besides, this way we still have an extra room for the next addition to our family.” She added, causing Reborn to look at her sharply. He obviously didn’t expect her to warn Mama of what was to come. Tsuna, on the other hand, felt that her mother deserved all the warning she could get. She was the one who bought most of the groceries, did most of the cleaning and cooking, and generally took care of all members of the family.

“Okay. That room’s already got a bed, a dresser, and a book shelf. Do you think Gokudera-kun will need anything else?” Nana wondered. Tsuna’s first instinct was to say no…but then she thought about it.

“Haya may want a desk or table for homework or projects, Mama. He’s really smart.”

“Should we stock up on any project materials? What do you think he’d like…? I believe the Miura’s down the street get their daughters supplies at the Open-Air Market Downtown…” Mama mused.

“I’ll take care of it, Ka-san. Miura-chan’s more into cosplay, but Gokudera’s more into stuff like the Yamamotos and Hibaris are.” Tsuna quickly interrupted. She didn’t want her ka-san anywhere near explosives and whatever ingredients her Haya would need for his weapons. The woman may not realize the ingredients were dangerous, after all. Sawada Nana tilted her head to the side, pausing in her mixing to turn and look at her daughter thoughtfully.

“Will you be inviting him to your workshop then, darling?” Nana’s words made Tsuna twitch slightly.

 **“Not just yet, Mama.”** Ko denied immediately. Without another word, Nana went back to mixing the cookie-dough in her bowl and started to hum idly.

“I’m going to go wipe down any dust, vacuum, and change the sheets before Haya gets here, Ka-san.” Tsuna announced before she turned and left the kitchen. She noted Reborn didn’t follow her, and smiled a private smile to herself. The kind of smile that had too many teeth. Reborn was probably going to try questioning Mama about her ease in allowing an unknown child to move in with them. Well, all the better for her. That meant he wouldn’t be supervising her. Time to get a few things done! Things Reborn might find very surprising, if they let him know about it.

Once she reached the second floor, Tsuna stepped out of view from downstairs. Quickly she drew her hands into the familiar cross-shaped sign. With an almost-silent ‘poof’, two clones popped into existence. One clone started dusting while the other went into Tsuna’s room and settled down to do her homework. The original Tsuna entered her own room and then crawled into her closet. She gently slid a box from the right side of the closet to the left, and lifted up the trap-door which had been underneath the box. She crawled down into the hole beneath, being careful to get her feet onto the ladder, and started to descend. She closed the hatch behind her, not wanting Reborn to find out about her workshop just yet. He’d ignored Ka-san mentioning it earlier, but Tsuna knew he’d definitely heard about it. No doubt he’d either demand TsunaKo told him about it, or try to find it himself once everyone else was asleep.

For now, though, she had plans to make a special welcome gift for her new five-flamed guardian.

* * *

Carefully Reborn swiped some cookie dough with one hand while Nana wasn’t looking. The other hand quickly tapped out a message to Gokudera. He’d thought about just letting the brat search for the Sawada house on his own, but in the end he was more interested in seeing how the brat settled into Tsunako’s harmony and home. Once the message was sent, he tucked his phone back into a pocket and turned his attention back to Nana.

He’d spent the past twenty minutes trying to lecture Nana about letting strangers into the house. The experience made Reborn think there was more than ‘obliviousness’ wrong with Sawada Nana. She genuinely could not grasp the idea that strangers should not be allowed in her house. Equally irritating, she seemed to have no problem with Tsunako running the Sawada house, so long as Iemitsu wasn’t home.

“It’s just, my dear TsunaKo are so picky…” Nana fussed. “It’s hard enough to get her to accept people. It’s only natural that once she chose someone, she’d want to keep them close. Especially if they were living in the North-West Quarter…” Reborn swiped some more cookie dough in reply. He’d had his fill of this argument. Besides, she’d said something interesting just then. Instead of saying Tsuna ‘ _is_ picky’, she’d said ‘ _are_ picky’, and the way she’d emphasized two parts of Tsunako’s name…making it not just Tsunako but rather Tsuna-Ko. Almost like they were two names instead of one. Could it be that Iemitsu had two daughters, and they’d been playing a trick on him?

He shook that thought off. No, he was The World’s Greatest Hitman. He’d have noticed if there were three females in the house. There had been that strange alteration of voice when Tsuna had been upset earlier…perhaps Tsunako had Dissociative Identity Disorder? He thought about that for a long moment, but ultimately decided it was unlikely. She didn’t change how she stood, walked, or anything when her voice changed slightly. At most it just sounded like her voice went huskier with emotion. Reborn would keep thinking about it and watching for any odd signs. The sounds from upstairs quieted down, and Reborn thought he should probably wander upstairs and ‘help’ Tsunako get started on her homework.

Unlike the profile CEDEF gave him, Tsunako didn’t seem to have any trouble learning. No, what she had was a motivation problem. Tsunako detested schooling and homework. Everything from being at school to actually sitting down and writing out her answers. When Reborn forced Tsunako to sit down and start working on her homework, however, she usually did B+ or A- work all on her own. Of course Reborn reviewed her work and helped to bring it up to A+ work, but the profile he’d been given stated Tsunako had learning problems.

Learning problems likely caused by the Seal…of which he’d seen no trace. When Tsunako used her flames to bond to Gokudera earlier that day, he’d nearly had a heart attack. Apparently she knew about her flames…somehow. And she could definitely control them. If the bonding had been accidental, or instinctual, the flames would not have been as gentle and slow as the bonding earlier. It made him reconsider his thoughts on her adding flames to her food and drink earlier. Had she intended to offer him a spot in her Sky…?

 _“Not that it matters if she did. It wouldn’t be fair to such a young Sky to agree to be her Guardian when I’m cursed like this.”_ He thought scornfully, ignoring the fact that his subconscious had apparently decided he’d bond with her if given the chance.

* * *

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I had a bit of trouble with Tsuna's name. I got really into writing the story and when I went back I realized I'd typed "Ri" instead of Tsuna or Tsunako a bunch of times....whoops! I think I got them all. Also, if you want to see what Reborn's bento looked like (minus the fedora), you can go here:
> 
> https://www.pinterest.com/pictoralinspire/the-split-tsunako-sawada/
> 
> I put a bunch of pictures that I used for inspiration and from my deviant art for this story on this Pinterest Board. You can also find my gallery on DeviantArt by following the links on the Pinterest Board (minus the bento, which was not originally my picture).
> 
> Well, until next time!


	3. Ch 3: Setting Up for Success

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not an update, just editing.
> 
> EDITED: 8/17/20
> 
> I also went through and fixed/clarified some things in they section that describes 'Sky Sickness'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the info dump in this chapter. This chapter was semi-edited as of 8/17/20.

* * *

* * *

Gokudera melded into life in the Sawada household like he’d always been there. When shown his room, he’d made exclamations over how awesome it was. Considering where he’d been living, Tsunako had no doubt it was a paradise in comparison. Plus he’d be getting free food along with the free room. Well, free-ish. He was hers now, after all. Tsunako would of course make sure he was taken care of, but she would also have tasks for him to do. As any Sky would for their Guardian. It delighted Tsuna when Reborn showed up in her room to make her do her homework, only to find it was already finished. He reviewed the homework with her and then ran her through some more drills before releasing her when the doorbell rang. That meant that Tsuna was free to spend the rest of the night settling in her new Guardian.

When her new Guardian found out Tsunako was the one who cleaned and prepared his new room…the gratitude and praise had been effusive. Apparently he hadn’t realized that food was included in his free room and board. Because both Nana and Tsunako had to insist on him joining them. It still wasn’t until Ko spoke up in her slightly deeper, somewhat husky voice and informed him flatly:

**“You are joining us for dinner, Haya.”** That the boy caved. He bowed (literally) to her whims and sat between Tsuna and the other end of the table. The spot at the head of the table was empty (as it almost always was), with Nana sitting on to the right of the head seat, Reborn on the left. Tsuna sat next to Reborn, with Gokudera on her other side at the other end of the table. Tsuna watched everyone dig in with pride. True her mom was the one who’d cooked this meal, but it still made her happy to have her family eating at her table.

“Ka-san.” Tsuna began, toying with the lettuce in her salad. Her mother immediately looked up and focused all of her attention on Tsunako. Despite the way her mind had been messed up, she was scarily good at focusing on her beloved daughter. Tsuna chalked it up to the effort she’d been making to free Nana from what Iemitsu and whoever he hired had done to her mother.

“Yes, Tsuna-chan?”

“We’re going to need a bigger table soon.” Tsuna pointed out, looking at how they took up four out of the six available seats.

“Ara? How many seats do you think our new table will need?” Ka-san inquired. Tsuna tilted her head, feeling little sparkles fill the air. She loved her special effects _so much_.

“Well, we’ll probably need at least six or seven for my new friends, plus a couple seats for visitors…and of course one left over for _that man_. So maybe an eight-seater for the dining room and an extra-long table in our extra room? I know we use it for storage right now, but we could store things in the attic or the other extra space. That second table should probably seat at least twelve.” Tsuna worked out. Nana beamed at her.

“That sounds wonderful, Tsu-chan! Our house will be so full!” Nana boasted, and then seemed to deflate slightly. “But Tsuna, we don’t have enough bedrooms for six or seven more people!” Nana cried. Tsuna felt her ‘special effects’ form a sweat drop over her head.

“It’ll be alright, Kaa-san. Some of them might have appropriate homes nearby. Plus Reborn already shares with me, and some of them may be willing to share. If we have to, we can add another floor to the house, or something.” Tsuna soothed her mother, who bounced right back as usual.

“Oh, well that’s fine then, dear.” The woman agreed. “Should we go ahead and have a third story added? That way it will be complete before your new friends join us….” Her mom mused, and Tsuna just smiled gently at the woman.

“That would be fine. I’m sure Reborn knows some people who can do the construction during the day while we’re out.” Tsuna smiled, looking to Reborn at the end, who nodded.

“I know a company, I’ll give them a call. They specialize in twenty-four-hour completion. They can also look at the shower while they’re here if you would like.” He promised Nana.

“Excellent.” Tsuna proclaimed as she patted her mouth gently with a napkin. Tsuna stood and gathered her dishes, having finished in between talking. Gokudera, despite having some remnants on his plate, immediately stood.

“No need to get up before you’re done, Haya. I’ll just be upstairs in my room. You’ll join me when you’re done, right? Or do you need to unpack?” Tsuna scolded. Hayato flushed, but sat back down.

“Alright.” He agreed solemnly. “Of course I will, Hime!” He added, in reply to her query. Tsuna made her solitary way into the kitchen, quickly rinsing off her dishes before she ascended to her room. Once there, Tsuna fetched her sketchbook, a notebook, a couple drawing pencils, erasers, and a pen. Settling on her bed with her back against the headboard, Tsuna flipped the notebook open to a fresh page. Shortly after she’d settled in, Gokudera knocked on the doorframe of her open door.

“Hime?” He asked, and Tsuna looked up to smile at her new Guardian. She could see him taking in her room and its plainness. Her room had the same bamboo flooring as the rest of the house, with only a rug in front of her bed to warm her feet. Her bed was shoved up in the right-hand corner of the room. There were windows in both the right-hand wall and the wall directly opposite the doorway. Tsunako was lucky enough to have a corner room. The walls were a plain white, and broken up only by a dresser, a floor-to-ceiling bookcase, a small tv set, and a desk under the window on the back wall. There was also a small, low traditional-type table in the middle of the room.

“Come in, Haya. Come join me.” Tsuna ordered, patting the bed in front of her. Hesitantly Hayato climbed onto the bed, leaving his house slippers on the floor at the edge of the bed. He turned so his back was to the other wall, sitting perpendicular to her.

“Now, tell me, can you draw?” Tsuna demanded. Semi-hesitantly, Gokudera nodded. In reply Tsuna beamed at him. “Excellent!” she exclaimed while thrusting the sketchpad and a pencil into his hand.

“I want to design the new third floor, but I’m pants at drawing out my thoughts.” She explained with a huff. Eagerly Hayato settled the sketchbook in his lap and looked to her for direction. He seemed happy to be able to do something for her. Probably the new Guardian instincts, she mused. A Guardian’s instincts were especially strong, sometimes overwhelming, right after they first bonded. She probably should have thought of that earlier, maybe gone with him to pick up his things…. .

“So, we need six bedrooms, so if we take the second floor’s design and just split Kaa-san’s bedroom in two, we’ll have six bedrooms. But we really should add another bathroom, too. A split bathroom, with a separate closet for a toilet or two and a separate section for a shower. Then a double or triple sink in the main area, so that multiple people can use different parts of the bathroom at the same time. And an extra water heater, maybe…” Tsuna hummed contemplatively. She felt like just having the one bathroom for everyone except her Kaa-san was asking for trouble. Tsuna bit her lip while thinking, staring idly into space.

“You could have an extra two rooms extended out above the back yard, which would give you eight areas to work with, and then maybe make one or two of the rooms in the middle into bathrooms. That way you could separate rooms between people who don’t get along. A few columns beneath the addition, or even adding more rooms on the floor below and the third floor shouldn’t be any trouble.” Gokudera suggested, turning his sketch pad so Tsuna could see his idea. At first she had no problem with this plan.

“That’s not a bad idea. Thanks, Hayato.” Predictably Gokudera blushed at her praise, and Tsuna had to resist the urge to coo at him. He was so cute. Already he was seeking to make her life easier, to be helpful to her. She was so very fond of her new five-flame guardian.

“Let’s make one room in the middle for the shower and bathroom. We can have a couple shower stalls, like at a public bath, and then a big in-ground tub or something so a couple people can soak at once. Then the other side of the hallway will have the toilet and sink room. We can have a couple toilets in stalls, like in public bathrooms but cleaner, and a whole row of sinks with counter space in between for getting ready.” Tsuna directed.

Gokudera quickly drew a couple separate sketches with her ideas. When they were done, Tsuna looked at the sketches and hated it. Not the drawing, Haya did an excellent job merging their ideas…but the building just looked so unwieldy and strange, even with the columns holding up the third floor. Seeing her frown, Gokudera looked down in his sketches.

“Did I not draw them right, Hime?” He worried. Tsuna had the strangest urge to smooth the worry lines between his eyebrows with her fingers. Instead she looped an arm around Gokudera’s back and leaned her head on his shoulder for a moment. She huffed, irritation with the layout still eating at her. At first she couldn’t place what was irritating her so, and she chewed over her thoughts for a few moments.

“It’s not that. It’s just… having the third floor hanging out like that doesn’t look very nice. And if we expand all three floors…then it won’t really be my house, you know? I was kind of hoping to keep at least some of my childhood home….” She sighed in disappointment. “At this point, we might as well buy a new place or knock this one over and start anew.” She huffed. “But…it’s _my house!”_ She grumbled, and Hayato gently patted her back when her eyes flashed the purple of her cloud flames once more and cloud flames started to drip from her hair. He worriedly eyed the bedspread beneath them, hoping it wouldn’t catch fire or start multiplying in weird ways. He didn’t pull away from her, though, and fondness welled up within Tsuna once more.

“Or you could buy the land and house next door. Knock that house down and build a side addition to your house. That way your childhood home would still be there. You may not even need a third floor.” Reborn suggested from the doorway, and Tsuna jumped. After calming down, Tsuna’s eyes lit up as his words sunk in.

“You think they’d be willing to sell, Reborn-hitoman? Only they’re sort of older and they’ve lived there for a very long time.” She worried. Reborn chuckled darkly.

“I’m sure they could be…persuaded.” Reborn assured, tilting his hat down over his eyes. Tsuna could just make out the golden hue taking over his eyes slightly at the idea. From deep inside, Ko grinned malevolently, more than pleased at their Courting Sun’s willingness to inflict pain and death on those that got in TsunaKo’s way. Or in the way of their happiness.

“I’m rather fond of the Tamakawas. I’d rather they weren’t killed.” Tsuna informed him. She, too, thought his gesture sweet. But it was Tsuna's job to keep both of her ‘selves’ in line. The hitman gave her an injured look. As though she couldn’t feel his killing intent when he spoke.

“I don’t have to kill someone to get them to sell. I’m a very convincing person.” Reborn assured her. Ko shrugged for them. As long as the couple were taken care of properly…they were some of the few nice people in the neighborhood. Tsuna was rather attached to their well-being, if only because they always greeted her fondly and had kind words for TsunaKo. They also didn’t treat Tsuna and Ko any differently. Like most people, they hadn’t realized there was a difference between the Split and Tsuna. It didn’t seem to matter to them if sometimes she was a little…strange compared to normal people. If sometimes she was meaner, or cared less about other people.

“And they’ll get a fair price for their house?” Tsuna demanded, not quite convinced. “Where will we get the money to buy an entire house and land…let alone brand-new construction…?” She worried. Reborn smirked a bit.

“They’ll get a fair price, Tsunako. Just leave everything to me.” He promised, and Tsuna beamed one of her mega-watt-Sky-smiles at him.

 _“Apparently he wants to show us he can take care of us.”_ Tsuna thought happily.

 ** _“That, or Vongola has set aside funds for our use and anything we might need while Reborn is ‘training’ us.”_** Ko added idly. Tsuna shook her head mentally. She was sure it was Reborn. _That man_ had never taken care of them, or sent any extra money for anything. She highly doubted he _or_ his boss would start now.

“Thank you, Reborn!” She cried as she teared up a bit. “Haya and I will work on the design while you take care of the other stuff.” She promised. Reborn smirked at the teary teen. He gently tipped the brim of his hat to her before striding from the room. Tsunako and Hayato didn’t even notice him go, too busy starting their ideas from scratch.

“I still want a public-style bathroom for everyone to use, plus the soaking tub, of course. So stalls with toilets and showers, a set of sinks in a counter, and maybe a room with lockers so they don’t have to go back to their room to get clothes? Or maybe a couple closets, or something? And of course laundry hampers for each person…” Tsuna began firmly, and Gokudera made a notation on his clean piece of paper.

“Hime, what if we moved your room to the end of the new addition, so that you still have two walls with windows, and then combine where the old bathroom is and across the hall to this room? Then you’d have plenty of room for everything you want. Plus it will make we guardians feel less worried about your safety if rooms on either side of yours are filled with your guardians.” Gokudera offered hesitantly. Tsuna mulled that thought over in her mind for a moment. Then she poked Ko mentally, and got a slightly unhappy shrug in return.

“I guess our house will have to be renovated either way, in order to fit in what I actually want…If we’re going to go that far, let’s combine Kaa-san’s room with the one behind it and move the Master Suite to the end of their room, so she also has more room. It wouldn’t be fair for Kaa-san to have the smallest room in the house.” She agreed at length. “Then we should take out the middle room here, to make room for a hallway that goes through the new addition. Let’s do that on both floors, so we don’t need to go outside to reach the rest of the house…. And put another shared bathroom on the first floor, but at the back. We’ll make across the hall a large family room that can be converted to a large dining room or meeting room at need… but keep the kitchen and smaller dining room the same…excepting a larger table, of course…” As Tsuna spoke, Gokudera diligently made notes and worked on the drawing of what she was suggesting.

In the end, they ended up putting nine guestrooms/storage rooms on the first floor after the bathroom and family room. Just in case they had another Sky and their guardians visit. She figured they could also use the extra rooms for projects or something if her guardians wanted. Gokudera may not be the only one who needed a room for putting things together, like explosives, after all. And she didn’t want her guardians to have to share a workshop unless they wanted to. On the second floor they added seven new rooms after the new bathroom, plus Tsuna’s new bedroom that spanned wall-to-wall between the two outside walls, taking up the entire end of the hallway. Gokudera insisted TsunaKo should have her own suite, much like Kaa-san, since at least one of her guardians was a guy and she shouldn’t have to share a bathroom with men (in his words). The last room from the original floor plan on the second floor was split into part of one of the new rooms and a small room for Gokudera to use as his workshop.

“And Gokudera’s new room will be here…” Tsuna instructed, pointing to a room on the second floor right next to Tsuna’s, on the south side. “And we should have a connecting door, just in case. That way, besides windows, there are two exits or entrances into my room.” Tsuna finished. Then she glanced around the room to make sure Reborn wasn’t still there. Not seeing, or sensing him anywhere nearby, Tsuna surrounded herself and Gokudera in a bubble of Mist flame. She didn’t want anyone to listen in on this part of the conversation. Feeling the invisible flames surrounding them, and recognizing his Sky’s Mist flames, Gokudera straightened seriously and looked to her. Impressively, he kept drawing without looking, still somehow not messing up the sketches.

“This next bit stays just between us for now.” Tsuna ordered sternly. Gokudera nodded once in acceptance of the order. “There is a secret tunnel in my current closet to my personal workshop. Reborn doesn’t know about it yet, and it’s going to stay that way for now. I also don’t want the construction workers to find it, so I need you to dissolve it with your flames before we present the sketches to anyone else. We can re-create them in my new room later, but for now we just need to get rid of the tunnel and fill in where it used to be with other things. I’ll go down first and let you follow behind.” Tsuna instructed. Gokudera stood and followed TsunaKo to her closet. He looked solemn, but Tsuna could see how touched he looked that she would trust him with something secret so soon. She sent him a small smile while watching him from the corner of her eyes. Tsuna opened up the secret hatch once more and climbed down, Gokudera following her from behind. Once the tunnel, it’s metal walls, ladder, and hatch were all dissolved by Storm flames, they stood inside her lab. She smirked a bit at the awe on his face as he looked at her lab.

The room was made of concrete, with two doors aside from the hatch in the ceiling they’d come through. It also seemed to run the length of the house and under the neighbor’s house as well. Thankfully it was the neighbors that Reborn had indicated he would buy the house from. The room had two large steel counter tops that doubled as large square tables with cupboards underneath. Both tables were surrounded by a mix of stools and wheeled spinney chairs. On the far end of the room, at the back, there was a corner with a large wall of computers, computer parts, and miscellaneous tech. Gokudera noted the surveillance equipment with monitors that showed different angles of the house, Namimori High, and all over Namimori. Then he spotted the clone she had doing schoolwork on one of the computers. Immediately he had dynamite in his hands.

“Hime?” He growled, and looked confused. Gently Tsuna pushed down the hand full of dynamite. Her clone looked up in surprise at the sound of Hayato’s voice.

“Boss?” The clone asked, also confused. Tsuna waved off the clone.

“Continue with your work.” Tsuna ordered the clone, who cast Gokudera a suspicious look then shrugged and went back to their schoolwork.

“That’s just a Mist and Cloud clone. She’s working on my _actual_ school work. The stuff that I do and have done for any Namimori-based school is just a cover. That’s the stuff _that man_ knows about, so I couldn’t do my best at that school or he would’ve become suspicious. Now that you’re my Guardian, there’s some things you need to know that Reborn either doesn’t know or doesn’t know fully. The first…when I say ' _that man'_ or ' _that man and his boss'_ , I mean my sperm donor Sawada Iemitsu and the ninth head of Vongola. And…they’ve been trying to kill me since I was four years old. I’m not certain what their purpose is in calling me the heir to Vongola, but…” She sighed and gestured to one of the stools around the steel counter in the center of the left-hand portion of the room. Hayato sat on one, still paying rapt attention to his Sky.

“I’m fairly certain that those two killed the last three heirs of Vongola. They say they don’t know who did it but…you’ve heard of the gift called Intuition that runs in the family on _that man’s_ side?” She prodded, and Gokudera nodded. “Well, that’s the source of my certainty. And my intuition has never been wrong. Even about things that I have no way of actually knowing about. Also, I could tell the first time I met them that both men are Sky-sick... ” Tsuna explained.

“Sky sick?” Gokudera questioned. “Like they got a flu or…?”

“Or. Definitely or. Sky sickness goes by many different names, depending on who you talk to. It’s also a sort of…taboo subject. I suppose I should start with the difference between most people with Flames and those with Sky Flames. Even if Sky isn’t the primary flame, our flame interacts with our bodies differently than any other type of flame. Our bodies are, for lack of better words, harmonized with our soul and flames. Our bodies grow with Sky flames, even if we’re inactive. It’s like the nervous system, but instead run on flames instead of impulses. If one or, goodness forbid, all of our flame pathways are blocked or damaged, it can handicap us for life.” She began to explain.

“So, the seal placed on you…?” Gokudera asked, fear coating his words and leaning forward intently as though he could will her into being okay. Well, perhaps not the best example, considering he has Sun flames…Tsuna thought. She shook that thought off and shook her head ‘no’ at him.

“So they told you about that…I wondered. No, I was never sealed. They think they sealed me, but there were extenuating circumstances they didn’t know about and I was able to fight off the seal. I kept a shell of it to hide my flames when I want, but I’m seal-less and active. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to bond us. A sealed Sky, even if the seal is cracked, cannot bond. Ever. Even if the seal is removed, if the seal was placed on someone who hadn’t finished growing their pathways…they will be a handicapped Sky for the rest of their lives when it comes to bonding.”

“But Sky sickness, that’s what happens when a Sky has a mental illness. It can be something as simple as Narcissism, or as dangerous as being a psychopath. Depression can also effect Sky flames, but it’s not usually considered a part of the ‘Sky Sickness’ branch. When there is a serious mental illness, it twists the Sky’s brain and mind, consequently effecting their flames and actions. In the case of Bakamitsu and the Ninth, it’s one of the more serious versions of Sky Sickness."

" _That man_ 'suffers' from Narcisim and is also a bit of a sociopath. I'm not sure about the ninth, as I only met him once, but at best I'd say he's a sociopath like _That man_. The fact that he and _That man_ are able to work together...it doesn't say good things about the Ninth's mental health and flames."

"Their actions towards other Skies is a version of Sky Sickness known as Sky Rivalry. Skies who have Sky Rivalry will seek to control, kill, and/or handicap every Sky they can. Hence trying to seal a four-year-old, and how they’ve continuously been sending assassins, Hitmen or Hitwomen, and even Guardians to kill me since they supposedly sealed me.” Tsuna explained as best she could.

“I believe you, but I need to know in case we have to present our case to the Vindice, do you have any proof of the people they sent to kill you?” Gokudera promised. Ko took over and appraised Gokudera silently for a few moments, during which Gokudera began to look nervous as he sensed something had changed. He wasn’t sure what, but there was a heavy tenseness in the air pressing down upon him.

**“That depends, on whether you count having twelve would-be murderers and two Lightning Guardians, Ganauches one and two respectively, buried in our backyard as proof.”** Ko remarked, her voice being the deeper and rougher version of their voice but soft enough to run chills up their new guardian’s back. He gulped.

“That might count. We’ll need to see if there’s a paper trail between Vongola and the deceased, though. Then we could prove it.” Gokudera stammered. He looked a strange cross between exhilarated at the thought of how strong his Sky is, upset that someone dared try to kill his Sky, and a little terrified of her strength.

“Now you see why I haven’t told Reborn anything yet. If his courting of me is successful and he becomes my Sun Guardian, then I will inform him of what he’s put himself in the middle of. But he may not be successful. It depends on how sincere he is about becoming my Sun Guardian. And whether he proves himself trustworthy. Until then…well, as you no doubt know, I can’t trust his contract doesn’t have a kill-clause in it. Especially since he won’t show it to me.” She grumbled. Gokudera nodded solemnly.

“The next thing you should know…it will probably seem impossible, but please hear me out. I have memories of all of my past life-times. I also retain all of the gifts from these past lifetimes. That’s how I knew how to fight off the seal. I was a sealing master in a few of my past lives, and it carries over. That’s why I am able to create a clone with my own consciousness that can do my schoolwork online, independent from me, while I focus on other things.” Tsuna explained a little nervously. She didn’t reveal her past lives to everyone or even anyone in every life. This time though….being Vongola made one a magnet for strange happenings, and she wouldn’t put it past this lifetime for something to expose her secrets. It was best for her to reveal them to those she trusted willingly. Plus it would help explain some of the other information she had for him. To her surprise, Gokudera shrugged.

“Not the strangest thing I’ve heard of. There are a few people in the Mafia who remember past incarnations.” He admitted easily at her questioning look.

“Huh.” She quickly shook off her surprise to focus on what she wanted to tell him next. “So, I have your first two assignments. They interlock, and I want to you to work on both a little every day. According to what information I was able to find, you do not have hand-to-hand training, although you are capable of throwing punches and the like. Is this information correct?” She started, and paused long enough for him to nod.

“Right, okay. So, one of my requirements for my Guardians is that the must know hand-to-hand fighting as well as two different weapons. They don’t need to know all this when we bond, but they do have to learn if they don’t already know it. You’ve got explosives, so that can count as one of your weapons, do you have a second weapon you know how to use?” 

“I know a little bit of knife handling.” He offered, looking worried once more. Tsuna shot him a Sky Smile and leaned forward to gently ruffle his hair a little.

“That’s a good start. In past lifetimes I’ve had guardians who didn’t know any of the three when we first bonded. You actually have an advantage, because you’re still young enough to learn one of my preferred methods of fighting for both myself and my Guardians. How much do you know about chakra?”

“The Indian thing about having seven centers of energy in the body, running from the top of the head to the base of the spine? Having seven different types? Some people say it can be used for things?” Gokudera immediately replied.

“That is how it’s generally thought of. It’s not right, though. Truthfully chakra resides in every cell of the body and is transported throughout the body via a person’s chakra network. Just like with Sky flames flame network, the chakra network is much like the nervous or circulatory system. The chakra goes through the entire body down to the cellular level. And unlike the theory that there are seven different types of chakra, the truth is that every person’s chakra is unique to themselves. Every person’s chakra has a different color and ‘feel’ to it. Chakra is made up of both physical and spiritual energy, and every person is born with a different ‘base’ amount of chakra. In order to increase this amount, there are two different types of exercises. Meditation is the usual accepted method of increasing one’s spiritual energy, although it can be different for those with flames, and anything that strengthens the body increases the physical energy.” As she spoke, Tsuna was amused to see Haya whip out a notebook and pencil from …. Somewhere?… and start taking notes. The look of excitement and concentration on his face was quite cute. He’d scrunched up his eyebrows slightly, and his eyes were intently focused on her. Once more his hands moved and wrote down what he wanted on the paper, not messing up despite not looking at what he was doing.

“Unlike most energies, excepting Flames, of course, chakra is extremely malleable. Each person’s chakra naturally aligns with one or two of the five basic chakra natures, known as elemental affinity. A person can, with lots of study and practice, learn to transform their chakra to one of the other affinities, but most people don’t have the determination necessary to learn how. Or if they do, it’s usually only a secondary affinity at most.” At this point, Gokudera interrupted her, and she noted he’d somehow gained glasses while she was explaining. She bit her lip a little, trying not to laugh. She knew he didn’t have Mist flames, so it was likely something his teacher was attempting to prank him with. He didn’t even seem to notice the glasses.

“Do chakra affinities line up with flame type?” He wondered, and Tsuna shook her head ‘no’.

“Not at all. They don’t even have the same names. The basic five are: wind, water, fire, earth, and lightning.” Gokudera looked puzzled at this, but Tsuna just shrugged at him. “I’m not sure why it’s divided that way, this is how I learned it.” She added with another shrug. Gokudera nodded in understanding and went back to taking notes.

“There’s more than the five basic affinities to charka, though. There are an endless amount of things that can be done with chakra. A few of these things include: clones, like the one over there doing homework for me, healing, hiding in plain sight, walking up walls or over ceilings, jumping huge distances, manipulating the time-space continuum, and everything in between. There is also a Yin and Yang nature to all chakra. Using these two types of chakra separately, one can even manipulate reality. Some families in the world I learned this on, in a different life time I mean, even specialize in having certain types of chakra alignments, or breeding themselves to make their line have more Yin or Yang type chakra for specialized Yin or Yang techniques.”

“The amount and potency of a person’s chakra also affects a person’s body. The more potent and the greater amount of chakra a person has, the faster and stronger that person naturally is. Plus chakra can be used consciously to strengthen muscles, bones, sinew, etc, as well as speed a person up. The more you have, the faster you go and the more you can withstand. Unfortunately, there is a cut-off age, much like flames, when it is no longer safe to start learning to access and manipulate chakra. Now, I’m going to pull up three diagrams of my own body to show you the different systems we’ve talked about today. Please do not take down what my systems look like, as someone might use it against me. I do want you to have a copy of your own systems, so I’ll pull up yours once mine are done. I have a Mist-input on one of the computers, so I can give you a print-out of what your system looks like. I also want to do a full health screening while we’re at it. I use the same basic Mist-technique for health screening and healing as I do looking at the body’s different systems so we’ll do all three at the same time.”

“Ideally, while you’re just starting out, you should re-do your chakra system drawings at least once a month, so you can see your progress. I’ll pull up a Mist diagram for you each month, since you don’t have Mist flames. You’ll just need to remind me. Eventually, as I get more guardians, you will be responsible for teaching them about chakra and how to use it as well. Assuming they don’t know and are young enough to learn.” As she finished explaining, Tsuna stood up and moved into an empty space on the floor, Gokudera turning on his stool to follow her with his eyes. He obediently put down his notebook and pen while Tsuna summoned up her Mist flames.

The Mist flames covered her entire body and then two figures stepped to either side of Tsuna. Both had a dark gray, slightly see-through outline of the body as it’s base. The one on her left side showed her flame system, showing how her Sky flames wrapped through her body, with a core of flames in the very center of her body, just below where her ribcage ended, about a hands width above where her belly-button probably was. In that same place swirled both her Cloud and Mist flames. Interestingly, Hayato noted that the Mist flames also had pathways up into the brain, but the rest of her two secondary flames seemed to flow randomly in around her body, not confined to any specific ‘system’.

“As you can see, my two secondary flames don’t really attach to the body except in the flame core, whereas the Sky flames are attached throughout the entire body and the soul.” She narrated, and Hayato nodded. Then she turned to the chakra system, and Hayato turned his attention there as well.

“The chakra system is a lot more complicated, since it goes down to the cellular level, and throughout every single cell.” Tsuna went through the different parts of the chakra network, while her clone wandered over and handed two printouts with basic chakra and sky flame networks to him. He noted the sky flame network didn’t match hers, so he didn’t have to bother with destroying it. On the back of the handout with the Sky flame network were several examples of messed-up Sky networks, along with what could cause a Sky network to deform into that configuration. He shuddered slightly at what the Sky networks looked like when sealed at different ages. Tsuna smiled grimly at him, agreeing entirely. Such networks were a frightening sight, to say the least. Finally finished going over her systems, she gestured for Hayato to stand. He quickly stood up and forward until he stood before her.

He felt her Mist flames flow around him, and then at a simple gesture from Tsuna three diagrams the same height and shape as Gokudera materialized to their side. Both people turned to consider the diagrams. Hayato winced at the site of both diagrams. The flame diagram showed that his flames were practically exploding out from him everywhere, at least half of each flame existing outside his body, and Tsuna noted her saw her frown at that. He obviously didn’t have good control over any of his flames. The lightning flames, unlike the rest, was almost entirely outside his body. Only the faintest sparks existed in his core or body. Tsuna tapped the lightning flames meaningfully as she met Hayato’s eyes.

“We’re going to have to work on this. Your flames should exist inside your body unless you specifically want them outside yourself. Also, you’ve almost thrown your lightning flames into rejection. I know it’s your quaternary flame, but going into rejection with any of your flames will throw the others into rejection as well. Not to mention it will drag me down with you, since we’re bonded.” She frowned at him, and watched as Gokudera’s shoulders hunched. He also seemed to withdraw into himself, and she sighed, easing up on him.

“Haya, I’m not mad at you. Just worried for you. I’m guessing you’re rejecting your flames because of how the Mafia views those with lightning flames, right?” She gently reproved. Hayato paused, but nodded at length.

“I want you to know right now, I think the way the Mafia views lightning flames is a bunch of idiocy and lies. You’ve heard of Verde, the lightning Arcobaleno, right?” Gokudera nodded at her words, looking stunned and definitely less miserable.

“I believe his body automatically uses his flames not as a hardener, but to speed up the electrical impulses, especially in his brain. I know you are considered a genius, and if you look, you’ll see the faintest traces of your lightning flames in your own brain here on the diagram. I believe you are capable of using your lightning flames the same way Verde does.” Tsuna divulged. She was pleased to see her Haya now looked thoughtful instead of upset. While he was thinking on what she said, some of his lightning flames drifted back into his body. As she had thought, there was a steady stream of flames between his core and his mind. When she felt he’d had long enough to think, Tsuna drew his attention to the second of his diagrams. This one was the chakra diagram. Hayato winced again upon looking at the chakra diagram.

Unlike TsunaKo’s diagram with it’s huge reservoir of flames just behind where her bellybutton and large pathways with a constant flow of chakra, Hayato’s reservoir seemed to be located in the center of his sternum and chest, and contained barely any chakra at all. The reservoir itself was tiny as well, and the chakra pathways tiny. The amount of chakra flowing through his pathways could barely be seen. Tsuna sent him a consoling smile.

“Don’t worry, it looks terrible after seeing my chakra diagram, but I actually have more chakra and a greater reservoir than most people. Your reserves, reservoir, and pathways are actually pretty normal for an untrained person of your age.” She murmured to Gokudera, who looked to be in the middle of a mid-life crisis, despite only being sixteen. He also wasn’t used to being ‘normal’, or in his mind _mediocre_ , at anything. Gokudera Hayato had never been midcore at anything in his life. Whether it was what he was born with, or learning to do something.

“By the time we’re done, you should have a system and reservoir just slightly smaller than mine. Like I said, mine are larger than normal by far, so don’t feel like you need to measure up to me.” Tsuna sighed. Gokudera turned to her curiously, and Tsuna could practically feel his question. “In one of my other lifetimes, I had what the people of that world called a ‘demon’ sealed inside my soul, and it’s chakra added to mine. I was only a few minutes old when this happened, so it changed how my chakra system grew and functioned. Because he was sealed in my soul, all of my chakra systems since then have been the same size. It’s honestly a pain because having so much chakra means I will probably never have good enough chakra control to heal using chakra. I know how it works, and I can teach others to heal with chakra, but I can’t do it myself. I’ll tell you about those lifetimes another time, though. We need to finish up before Reborn gets back, and we still need to build back the flooring and what-not from where the tunnel used to be.” Tsuna grumbled.

“Why not have some of us clones do it, Boss?” Her clone interrupted, bringing over some more printouts, this time they were four exact copies of Hayato’s systems. The fourth diagram the clone handed to Tsuna herself, and she noted that it was the health scan she’d made.

“That’s not a bad idea.” Tsuna murmured distractedly as she looked over the life-sized diagram of his health, and dismissed the other Mist diagrams with a wave. The diagram that showed Gokudera’s health, systems, and body in real-time (as the beating heart, flowing blood, and what not showed) moved closer to them.

“Haya, what happened to your stomach, intestines, and throat?” Tsuna demanded, voice low and dangerous. Gokudera shrunk back in on himself, but explained about how his dad and sister used to feed him poisoned food before he ran away.

“But weren’t you apprenticed under a Mist doctor? Why wasn’t this damage taken care of?” She growled. Gokudera was shaking his head before she finished.

“He only treats women.” Gokudera explained, as though that was any kind of explanation at all.

“He won’t treat his own apprentice, or arrange for someone else to treat you? I hope you aren’t very attached to that man, Haya. Because if I ever meet him, he likely won’t survive the encounter.” Her words this time were even and soft, but the killing intent and angry Sky flames pressed down on the room. Haya didn’t feel pressured by them, but he was very aware that it surrounded and cradled him, protective and furious beyond measure. He bowed, one hand over his heart.

“You honor me, Hime.” He murmured, and Tsuna felt the worshipful awe directed at her once more. But she shook her head mutely.

“No, I treat you as I should. Just because you’ve only known scum who didn’t treat you right before does not lessen your worth or make their actions acceptable. You should do all you can to keep your previous family away from me as well. If you want them to live.” She disagreed, voice just as soft, intent, and dangerous as before. Tsuna examined the rest of the diagram, pulling up parts to view up-close, and then returning it to regular size again later.

“Aside from … _that_ …you also have a brief period or two of malnutrition that have adversely affected you, a …..” here Tsuna paused to stop Ko from taking over and also deal with her own incredulity, “…a series of dangerous diseases, many of which are clashing and causing damage in their clash, quite a few previously broken bones, one cavity, many burns including a couple severe scars from previous burns, and a fracture in your jaw. Not the worst I’ve seen, but definitely one of the odd ones and more damage than I’m comfortable with. Normally I would ask before healing someone, but as you are one of mine, I cannot leave you in this condition. My instincts as both a Sky and a Cloud will not allow it.” Tsuna explained while she formed her fingers into a cross and summoned five clones. Four of the clones, created with her instructions in mind, took off to fix the holes in the house where the shut to the lab used to be. The last one picked up Gokudera, who yelped, and gently placed him on top of the table.

“Don’t worry, I’ll discuss everything with you as we go. Thankfully you’re a Storm, so you’ll be able to help me with this. I have the ability, with a mixture of Cloud and Mist flames, as well as the Magic my first life gave me, to regrow things that most people can’t heal. I’ll start by numbing all of your nerves so that this won’t be painful and you can still be awake for the process.” Tsuna explained as she swung the diagram so it hovered above Gokudera so he could see what was happening. “This will ask a lot of trust from you, and I know we haven’t known each other that long….” Tsuna bit her lip as she talked, wondering if she would have to put this off for now, but Gokudera nodded.

“I trust you, and my life is already yours, My Sky.” Hayato pledged, and Tsuna teared up a little. She couldn’t resist, she ducked down through the diagram and kissed him briefly on the mouth. She was up again before Gokudera finished registering what had just happened and his mouth dropped open, his eyes shining in stunned amazement.

“I am also going to use Mist flames to make your body think all systems and parts are functioning like normal so nothing messes up the process and your body doesn’t go into shock.” She added as her Mist flames entered his body and did as she’d stated. “Now, let’s start with the poison damage…I don’t think we need to replace the throat and intestines entirely, just the parts that were damaged by poison. Please dissolve those all with your storm flames. Don’t let your fire burn, though, we don’t want to accidentally cauterize the areas that are left behind.” She ordered, and Gokudera willed his flames to do as she’d said, while watching the changes on the diagram hovering over him.

Once he’d finished removing those parts of his body affected by the poison, most of them inside the intestines, throat, and mouth, Tsuna gently tipped a cup of potion into his mouth and had him swallow it. Then her Mist flames created a healthy solid illusion of what Gokudera had removed with his Storm flames. Carefully Tsuna twisted some of her Sky flames into Sun flames and then using both Cloud and Sun flames, she activated cellular growth and multiplied the new growth into following the pattern the Mist flames made for them until everything was whole once more. Hayato stared in amazement at the diagram above him and the feeling inside. Despite his nerves being entirely numb, he could tell the other side-effects from being poisoned as a child were gone. The constant nausea and cramping were gone, and Hayato wondered if he’d be able to eat whatever he wanted now. Before the healing, he’d been restricted in what he could eat as his body couldn’t handle all foods. Using the same basic pattern, Tsuna and Hayato healed his body until no damage remained. Once the diagram showed him as perfectly healthy, Tsuna made a pinching motion at the diagram and it folded down, then turned into a piece of paper that dropped into a Mist ‘folder’ and vanished.

“I’ve saved a copy of your healthy diagram, which we will update once every six months until you hit thirty, and can be used to automate the process of healing your body from now on.” Tsuna advised him, seeing the curious look on his face. “I keep a file of all my loved one’s healthy diagrams and other necessary information. I’ve also saved a copy of your flame and chakra diagrams.” She added with a wink. “Now, we should fill out a file for you.” She added, then the fifth clone dropped a stack of papers onto the table by Hayato’s head while he sat up. After looking to her for permission, Haya jumped down from the table and retook his stool before pulling the paperwork over to himself.

“In English, please.” Tsuna directed just before Hayato started to write, and he nodded before filling out the paperwork on himself. Just as he finished, the fifth clone sat down behind Tsuna with a few new pages. Tsuna accepted the paperwork from Hayato and turned to place it down next to the pages the clone sat waiting to fill.

“Good. Now we’ve got your basic information and will update it as needed. For the next section of your file, we’ll go over your goals as my Guardian and a member of my family. I told you I have requirements for my guardians…?” Tsuna began, pausing for his nod, and then continuing “we’ll go over those now. Along with the hand-to-hand and weapons, each of my Guardians needs to be learning something. Some of these things I will request, like the chakra and another weapon for you, and some you will set yourself. Now, I know you’re a genius, but I don’t know your limits or needs as far as mental stimulation goes. If you ever feel like you are learning too much or not enough, please let me know and we can fix your schedule. I haven’t read over your file yet, but we are on a time crunch today so I’ll have my clones review it later and I’ll gain the information while I sleep. For now, is there anything you are interested in learning?” She requested.

“I like taking college courses.” The suggestion, like all of his ideas so far, was given hesitantly. Silently Tsuna vowed that would change. She nodded agreeably.

“That sounds fine. Tomorrow night I’ll have you look at different colleges and see what college or colleges and course or courses you want. Along with chakra, there is a special system of writing that can contain chakra for different effects. One of the things that can be made with this system of writing, called seals or sealing, is different type of explosives. Since you use explosives to fight, I thought you might enjoy learning how to make explosive seals.” She suggested, and Haya’s eyes practically lit up at her words. “I’ll take that as a yes.” She giggled. He smiled back at her, only a little sheepish and with his eyes still sparkling. For the next few minutes they went over Tsuna’s expectations of him, as her guardian and a member of her family.

“Ah, and last but not least, I also require each member of my family with knowledge others don’t have to teach other members of the family. For now that means just you and I. I would like you to think for a week or so on everything you know and what you think you can best teach me. Eventually I’d like to learn some simple things about the explosives you use, and maybe how to make some simple ones, but I don’t expect I’ll be talented at it.” Her words seemed to make Gokudera puff up a bit in pride at having something he could teach her right away.

“Now, as a member of my family, and as my Guardian, your job is all of what we’ve just discussed. I do not want you to take any outside jobs, as I will need you nearby. To that end, you will receive payment every two weeks into an account just for you from the family. Your room, board, clothes, supplies for fighting including but not limited to what you need for your explosives, weapons, sparing gear, and so on will be covered under these charges. You will need to fill out ordering forms for your supplies for explosives, and let me know whatever else you need, though.” Tsuna informed him, and then added as he opened his mouth to disagree: “I will not argue with you about any of this, this is a fairly standard contract between a Guardian and the family they are a part of, so it is only what you deserve.” As she spoke, both the clones still in the room stepped forward. One held a measuring tape, and Gokudera spread his arms and legs, allowing the clone to take all his measurements. While the first clone worked, the second clone set a stack of boxes on the table next to him. When the clone finished measuring and writing down the results, it stepped back and Tsuna reached down into her pocket.

“I’ll have you open those in a moment.” Tsuna directed, and Gokudera sat while Tsuna pulled a small box out of her pocket. “This is a gift I handmade myself, to welcome you to the family. A must-have for every Guardian. A short preface, before you open it. I know you’re primarily a Storm, but we share five bonds, as all your flames bonded to me. Therefore I see you not as my Storm Guardian, but my Five-flame Guardian.” Tsuna explained as she cracked back the lid on the small jewelry box and saw Hayato’s throat bob as he swallowed with deep emotion and his eyes began to shine with tears, deeply touched. Inside the box was a ring, and although it looked much to large for his finger, he didn’t seem to care. In the center of the stone was a diamond, and around the edge of the diamond were six French-cut trapezoid gems. At the top, the biggest of the trapezoids, was a ruby, with a sapphire on its right side. Next to the sapphire was a yellow topaz and next to that a yellow calcite, both representing different properties of Sun flames. Next to the calcite was a green aventurine, followed by an amethyst. The ring itself was silver gold, and had an inset line of black and gold intertwining all the way around the rest of the ring.

“My first people, the ones I was born to in my very first lifetime, Flames weren’t known by the names of elements. They were named after the rock or mineral that represented the uses of flames in special rituals, wards, potions, and such things. Storm flames are, of course, rubies. Rain flames are represented by sapphires, which are for focus, discipline, and Inner vision. Sun is represented by two different stones. Calcite for healers, nurturers, and cleansing, while Topaz is for ‘activation’, clarity, and magnification. The green aventurine is for lightning flames. Being vitality, confidence, and optimism. The amethyst is, of course, for Cloud flames, and stands for protection, cleansing, and intuition. These are the things my people associate with the flames you carry.”

“The colors Silver, here represented by white-gold, and black, are the colors of one of my families, and I have carried them with me through many lifetimes. The shape of a ring is traditional for my people as well, as for us any soul-bond that is not a child-parent soul-bond is a marriage. Therefore, to our spouses, we present a ring just as in any other marriage.” Tsuna murmured softly, watching Gokudera’s face and their bond for any trace of rejection. Instead of rejection, she only felt an overwhelming awe and happiness from him. Still with happy tears in his eyes, he picked up the ring with a trembling hand and placed it on his ring-finger. The ring automatically shrunk down to fit his finger.

“Is this a flame-focus?” he asked softly, and Tsuna smiled at him.

“Yes. The flame you channel through it, no matter which flame, will flow through both the stone or stones associated with that flame, as well as the central diamond.” When she finished explaining, Hayato stood, threw his arms around her and drew her to him. Gently TsunaKo surrounded him in her own arms and held him as he trembled and cried into her shoulder. “I know I probably should have waited until we know each other better before giving you a ring but…I’ve read your portfolio, and I know others haven’t included you like they should have. Not even your birth family. I wanted to make sure you know that you are now and forever more a part of my family. In every way.” She explained, even though she was pretty sure he’d known what she was telling him.

“At least this means I will only have to share you with other guardians, and not with some idiot who thinks he’s family just because he is legally married to you or had a kid with you.” He joked weakly as he drew back. His cheeks were pink, probably embarrassed about crying in front of her. Tsuna had noticed in her other lifetimes that mafioso, especially the men, tended to be weird about crying in front of someone. As she didn’t like crying in front of people either, Tsuna could kind of understand. But there was no need for him to feel self-conscious in front of her. Gently Tsuna sent reassurance and love through their bond. He shuddered slightly as he felt what she’d sent him.

“So, what are the other stones?” He wondered. She grinned.

“Well, Amber is typically the stone used for Sky flames, being warmth, wellbeing, and nurturing. Mist is divided between both Lapis Luzuli for vision, truth, and awareness; as well as Kyanite for psychic, communication, lucid dreams, and the ability to make pathways. Wrath flames are usually either an amber with a ruby inside it or Ruby with amber inside of it. Specially grown. The flame of night is typically represented by Black Fire Obsidian.” Tsuna laughed as Gokudera double-tasked wiping away his tears with writing down her words.

“I don’t suppose one of the things I can learn would be making rings like this?” Gokudera suggested, eyes shining, and Tsuna could practically see his thoughts racing. “I want to make you a ring too, after all. It wouldn’t do to give you something mass-produced.” He grinned, and Tsuna dipped her head, cheeks flaming.

“Sure. I’ll reach out to a few people and see what I can do.” She promised, and in the background the clone added jewelry crafting and focus-making to the list of things he wished to learn. “Come on, open the boxes now.” She cajoled, and Gokudera reluctantly turned his attention to the boxes on the table. The first box he opened was a black leather jacket, with strange almost-invisible symbols stitched into the inside, as well as almost-invisible pockets on the inside, and a pair of simple pockets for hands on the outside. Beneath that in the box, there was also a black and a white suit-jackets, each had the same almost-invisible symbols and hidden pockets on the inside.

“They symbols are all different languages and powers. The jackets should be Flame proof, fire proof, protected against water, food, gas, and poison damage. They will help protect against bullets but don’t expect them to be bullet-proof. The bullet-proof sigils wouldn’t work with the other things fit it. The jackets will grow with you, and should keep you cool or warm, depending on your needs. It has some impact absorption, and contains small traces of my flames inside the seals and sigils so you’ll always have me with you. Each of the pockets is magicked. I put a couple different charms on them. They are what we call ‘bottomless’, meaning they’re sort of like having a little pocket-dimension attached to the pocket opening. Those pockets have no limit to how much can be stored in them. There is also a weightless charm on them. No matter how much you put in the pockets, they’ll never weigh more than an empty pocket would. And lastly, the openings are charmed so that you can put any size object into them. Don’t ask me how these things work, I try not to think about it.” She instructed. With awe, Hayato immediately pulled off his current jacket and pulled on the leather jacket over his black shirt with white skull design.

Far more excited now, he opened the next box. Inside this box was four guns, with a variety of holsters. Both guns and holsters had many more almost-invisible symbols carved into them. He looked to her expectantly for an explanation.

“The guns work as focuses as well, in the same tradition as Reborn and Xanxus of the Varia’s guns. It can either use your flames, any of them, to shoot flame bullets, use regular bullets, or use flame-enhanced bullets like the deathperation bullet. The holsters and any gun placed into them won’t show beneath your clothing, or show up on either metal detectors or other security devices. The second box in there is the same thing, except knives and knife holsters. I know they’re not your weapons, but I want you to have options.” Nodding to show he understood, Gokudera picked out a couple holsters for the guns, one for the middle of his back that clipped onto the top of his pants, ones to go under his arms on his left side, and one to go around his calf. He quickly slipped three guns into those holsters, and slipped one gun into an outside pocket on the left side. Next he picked up a dual holster for under his right arm, and startled when the holster around his other shoulder shifted and merged with the new holster until they were connected across the back. He also slipped a few knives into each pocket, and one holster on his upper right arm and one on his other calf.

The next box had a few pairs of slacks, jeans, black jeans, socks, dress shirts, tee-shirts, and punk accessories. There were also four pairs of boots, two pairs of which looked to be made of the skin of some sort of reptile he didn’t recognize.

“The clothes are all similarly protected as the jacket, don’t worry about them being to big. Like the ring, they’ll resize to fit and then grow with you as necessary. The boots are also charmed to be super-comfortable and supportive, as well as surprisingly flexible. They will also help you grip on any surface. Once you learn to use chakra and use it to walk up or down any surface, the souls are also chakra conductive so you won’t need to fear whether your footwear lets you do what you want. All of it Flame-proof, of course. By which I mean they won’t get destroyed. They will allow you to freely use Flames, chakra, or whatever, through any part of your body without your clothing taking damage. The reptile skin-looking boots are actually made of dragon hide. Don’t ask how I got them, I may be breaking several rules of reality by bringing dragon-hide boots from another reality to this one. It’s worth it, though. They are more battle-boots than the regular shoes and boots.” As she spoke, Gokudera set those items aside and opened the next box. This box contained sleepwear, workout clothes, a few sets of swim trunks, and, embarrassingly, underwear.

“I didn’t make the underwear. I special ordered it, and it’s brand-new. The rest of the items I added the enchantments, sigils, and seals myself. I didn’t make any of the shoes, though. Special-ordered.” She immediately promised, and Gokudera felt a bit better. It was true, by her people’s laws, they were now married, but there were some things that were just a little strange still. Like someone else buying him underwear. In the last box he found a leather messenger bag. He opened it up to find it was empty.

“The bag is charmed similarly to your pockets, in case you need to visibly carry something, or don’t want some things in your pockets. It will look like it’s empty, or you can turn the little snap on the outside that doubles as a clasp, and it will look like you have a notebook and a couple papers in there, or something. If you touch it and tell it to shrink the bag will turn into a small silver charm, in the front pocket you’ll find a leather bracelet it can be attached too. I’ve learned how to make almost anything able to turn into a charm and back on command. I’m working on figuring out how to trigger the change with flames instead of spoken command, but so far only gotten Mist flames to work that way. The bracelet can also change into a belt, if you want. The skull is the clasp or buckle, depending on the size.” Tsuna instructed, and Gokudera immediately placed all the clothing and everything else she’d given him that he wasn’t wearing into the bag, then shrunk it and attached it to the black leather bracelet before putting it on. She was pleased he kept it as a bracelet.

“We should probably get back. Hopefully Reborn isn’t up there yet…” Tsuna murmured as she brought one hand up into a seal and ‘released’ her clones. With two poofs of smoke, both clones vanished. Elsewhere her other clones had already dismissed themselves. She quickly formed two more clones. One began to clean up the lab while another sat down and began reading over what Hayato had put into his file. “Come on.” She urged, directing him to one of the doors.

* * *

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the info-dump. 
> 
> EDITED 8/17/20:  
> Fixed a few minor spelling errors. I also went through and fixed/clarified some things in they section that describes 'Sky Sickness'
> 
> The info on chakra is taken almost entirely from this post:
> 
> https://www.quora.com/What-exactly-is-chakra-in-Naruto-What-do-they-mean-when-they-say-a-character-has-a-large-amount-of-chakra#:~:text=In%20Naruto%2C%20chakra%20is%20the%20energy%20that%20was%20introduced%20to,by%20the%20alien%20Kaguya%20Otsutsuki.&text=This%20tree%20bears%20chakra%20fruit%2C%20of%20which%20Kaguya%20plucked%20and,to%20be%20born%20with%20it.
> 
> I really debated on keeping the part where Tsuna 'equips' Hayato, but I really wanted to show how she intends to take care of "Her Own" (her guardians). What do you all think? Should I have taken that part out? I don't know...*sighs*.
> 
> I meant to write another chapter to go with this one (since this one was a bunch of info), but I ended up working on writing out more of the plot outline and writing two scenes way further down the road instead...>.< Oh well. At least I'm fairly happy with how writing those scenes went.
> 
> Also, I ended up editing a few words in the first two chapters. On going back over them, I realized I accidentally put the 'family' cross-sign instead of the 'familiar' cross-shaped sign. Sorry! It was really bugging me so I ended up quickly changing those. Hopefully it didn't send a notification like they were new chapters. I'm going to try and get another chapter out in the next couple days, but we'll see.
> 
> While I working on the later scenes, I was really debating on whether Xanxus would survive the 'Varia Arc' where they're supposed to battle at Namimori High for the right to become the 'official' heir to Vongola...I think I've decided what I'm going to do with him, but Ko and Tsuna definitely disagreed on what approach they wanted to take in regards to their 'cousin'.
> 
> Until next time:
> 
> ~ Wingsrooke


	4. Chapter 4: An actual new chapter!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally posting a new chapter instead of editing old ones or adding pictures! No pictures this chapter, sadly. Started working on some, but hated them all. >.<
> 
> Summary:
> 
> Reborn thinks he's found the perfect rain guardian for Tsunako. Tsunako disagrees. A lot. Tsuna's 'new' house is finished, and Reborn proves once again that he does everything 'to the extreme'!

* * *

* * *

Last chapter: 

“We should probably get back. Hopefully Reborn isn’t up there yet…” Tsuna murmured as she brought one hand up into a seal and ‘released’ her clones. With two poofs of smoke, both clones vanished. Elsewhere her other clones had already dismissed themselves. She quickly formed two more clones. One began to clean up the lab while another sat down and began reading over what Hayato had put into his file. “Come on.” She urged, directing him to one of the doors.

* * *

* * *

Unfortunately Reborn had gotten back before they did. Thankfully Tsuna foresaw this possibility and they’d entered the house through the front door. Tsuna called a greeting into the house and went towards where her mother’s voice rang out from the kitchen. When she entered, Reborn’s sight lasered into her. His entire body and flames screamed displeased and worried. She sent him a gentle smile and a tiny lick of flame to brush up against his flames and hopefully give him a little peace.

“Where were you, Tsunako?” He demanded before Tsuna could greet him. Gokudera came through the door behind her, but Reborn ignored him.

“Ah, looking for Reborn.” She responded, making sure to give him a puzzled look. “We finished the floor plans for the expansion and wanted to show both Kaa-san and Reborn.” She added, and Gokudera obligingly placed the drawings Tsuna had approved onto the bar for both adults to look at. Reborn seemed to soften a little, at the news she was looking for him.

“Next time, you need to tell either your Kaa-san or I where you are going and when you plan to be back before leaving the house.” Reborn ordered. For a moment Tsuna’s cloud flames roared inside her, and from his slight flinch Reborn probably sensed it. Tsuna closed her eyes and practiced meditation breathing for a few moments until her flames were back under control.

“That sounds like a reasonable request.” Tsuna agreed, firmly reminding herself that it was, in fact, reasonable. Even if she hated being given orders. Reborn nodded firmly and dropped the subject. Instead he turned to look at the floor plans with Nana. Tsuna explained everything to them.

“This looks like a reasonable allotment of available space between the two properties.” Reborn approved, and Kaa-san agreed easily. It was Tsuna presenting the plan, after all. Nana never said no to Tsuna unless Iemitsu had already given an order.

“I also purchased the house on the other side, as well as the three behind. I have plans for a dojo, and shooting range, a garden, and a shed. For now.” Reborn informed the other three, placing the plans he’d drawn up. Tsuna smiled as she saw his were professional plans, including all measurements and a fence that went all the way around, with the two sides and the back being much higher than the rest of the fences in the neighborhood. It seemed he had planned for a nine-foot brick wall with wrought-iron spikes on top for all except the very front. The front area had a low four-foot-tall brick wall with the top five feet being a simple wrought-iron fence with spikes at the top. Reborn pulled out Gokudera’s sketches and quickly added a four-car attached garage on the opposite side of the house from the expansion, attached to the kitchen.

“I will send a copy of these plans and sketches to the construction company tonight and they will have it done by bed time tomorrow night. Mama, can you find ways to occupy yourself outside the house tomorrow?” Reborn outlined, and Nana nodded.

“Yes, I have my book club tomorrow morning, and maybe I will take lunch at the cafe… I can visit the Namimori Community Center in the afternoon and help with the service projects, stop by the library after that and exchange books. Then after my Tsu-kun and Hayato-kun get out of school we can give Reborn-san and Hayato-kun a tour of Namimori before dinner…” Nana planned.

“Kaa-san?”

“Yes, Tsuna-chan?”

“We should have dinner at TakeSushi, to celebrate having a new family member and welcome both Reborn and Haya to Namimori. Eating at TakeSushi is a Namimori _must_ after all.” Tsuna suggested. “Then maybe we could catch a movie or go to the swimming pool?” The suggestion seemed to light Nana on fire.

“You’re right, we should! I’ll call Yamamoto san and reserve a table for tomorrow…Fridays are busy, after all…” Nana cheered, turning from finishing up dessert to grab the phone off the hook and dial up TakeSushi.

“TakeSushi has the best sushi in the world.” Tsuna informed the guys as she grabbed a couple plates and began to ferry them into the dining room. Gokudera grabbed the tea tray and followed. Reborn followed curiously and Nana joined them with the plates holding the two cakes after she hung up the phone. Tsuna, of course, recognized the cakes on sight.

“Yum, I love Kaa-san’s green tea layered cake! And look, Reborn, Kaa-san made her famous Espresso-coffee-tiramisu for you!” Tsuna cheered. Reborn and Gokudera both looked intrigued at the description of the second cake. Nana quickly dished up a slice of the green-tea cake for both herself and Tsuna, then a slice of the Tiramisu for Reborn.

“What would you like, Gokudera?” Nana asked cheerfully.

“May I have a half portion of each?” He asked, looking nervous, and Nana smiled gently at him.

“You’re a growing boy, Hayato-kun, you can have a regular slice of each. Don’t think I didn’t notice you picking at your dinner earlier! We will definitely get you eating good portions for a growing teenage boy!” Nana half-scolded him. Tsuna smiled into her tea, taking a careful sip as she watched Nana place two extra-large slices on Haya’s plate. Kaa-san served them to him and the boy in question looked rather stunned. She knew, after having seen the state of his stomach, that Haya wasn’t used to such generosity. Even if he could have eaten that much before.

“Kaa-san, Haya recently had his stomach and insides healed, he’s still getting used to regular portions. Please don’t tease him.” Tsuna drawled, and was rather pleased when Reborn turned his gaze sharply to Gokudera. She was even more pleased when he scanned Haya with his Sun flames. Reborn relaxed a bit when he found no current damage to Gokudera. Tsuna sent Reborn an especially pleased Sky Smile and brushed him with a tendril of soothing Sky Flames as a reward. The hitman flushed slightly, just enough that Tsuna could tell it was there but only barely. Of course her Kaa-san was immediately concerned for the newest member of their family.

“Oh no! Is there anything you need? A special diet, perhaps?” Nana’s words made Hayato sink a little in his seat, blush spreading across his cheeks. Tsuna just barely resisted the urge to coo at him.

“He will probably need to start small and with things easy to digest and work his way up to regular food and portion sizes.” Tsuna informed her mother, and watched with a happy smile as Haya carefully dug into both of the cakes, alternating bites of each. When dessert was finished, they retreated to their separate rooms. While she was in the bathroom, Tsuna formed a clone and sent it to Hayato’s room to help him start training basic hand-to-hand and beginning chakra meditation.

In her own room, after getting ready for bed in the bathroom, Tsuna curled up in her bed. She watched as Reborn jumped up into his hammock and started to settle in with the pillow and blankets she’d brought him the other night.

“Neh, Reborn?” She called softly, and her turned his dark gaze upon her. There was just something intoxicating about being the sole focus of his black eyes. Maybe it was how intent he was, making her feel like the only person in existence. Or perhaps it was the dark intelligence gleaming out from behind his gaze. She knew he was a genius, though most people didn’t seem to realize it. When her clone had done research on him, she’d found Reborn held over fifty degrees under various pseudonyms.

“Yes, Tsunako?”

“I’m sorry I worried you earlier. I didn’t mean to.” She was sorry she’d worried him, even though what she’d been doing was necessary. She could have sent a clone up to be there when he returned, though. She’d remember to do so in the future. Reborn watched her for a silent moment, likely judging her sincerity before he spoke again.

“Forgiven. Just don’t do it again.” After that, Reborn fell asleep quickly, a small series of bubbles rising from him. Tsuna smiled fondly at the diminutive hitman before she too turned over and fell asleep. Tomorrow would likely be a long day and she needed her rest.

* * *

The next day did prove to be long. Reborn was once more trying to push her towards Yamamoto-kun. Which…no. Just no. She didn’t have anything against him, but he really wasn’t her type. The schemes to get Tsuna to notice the boy and vice-versa started (slightly) subtle. It started with the Volleyball game the other day, she thought.

As a member of a sports club that didn’t have a game that day, Yamamoto was naturally there to support the volleyball team along with the rest of his team. Reborn’s scheme may have made Yamamoto better notice Tsuna, though. From the corner of her eyes she noted the boy’s thoughtful and intent look as he watched her. Tsuna wasn’t performing for Yamamoto, though, so she ignored him. Instead she focused her attention on Reborn, and for once performed her best at Namimori middle.

She stopped any shots that came anywhere near her from touching the ground, lobbing them back at super-sonic speeds and scoring a point every time. She jumped higher than a normal person could, and dived low to save any balls that her team-mates missed. She even set up or spiked a few balls. After the game, still ignoring Yamamoto, Tsuna was pleased to see a pleased and calculating look in Reborn’s eyes. She didn’t want _that man’s_ bad reports of her to stop Reborn from seeing what an awesome Sky she could be.

Seeing his first plan had failed, Reborn dragged Tsuna (and consequently Hayato) to eat their lunch in the bleachers. The ones around the baseball field, where Yamamoto ‘just happened’ to be practicing. Tsuna noted none of the other members of the baseball team were practicing. Even the coach wasn’t there. Still, it had nothing to do with her, so she ignored it. Eventually Reborn had to give up on trying to make Tsuna interested in Yamamoto, right? Afterwards Reborn did not look very happy with her.

Tsuna spent all of lunch trying to get her Haya to eat just one more bite, or tell her another story about himself. When she wasn’t paying Haya attention, she was lavishing attention on Reborn. The poor sun looked flattered and happy with the attention. At least, she liked to think so. He also looked frustrated. TsunaKo mentally shrugged. He’d suggested Yamamoto and Tsuna had rejected the boy. It wasn’t her fault Reborn couldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.

After lunch all the teachers had them doing group projects or group activities. Tsuna was always teamed up with Yamamoto. It was a bit irritating. She’d much rather work with Haya. Especially since Haya had been put in a trio with two of his fangirls. The girls in question were making it a point to flutter their eyelashes and fawn all over _her_ Hayato.

“Haha, this is probably none of my business, but are you two dating?” Yamamoto asked, and Tsuna looked up to see his gaze focused on her hands. Tsuna looked down to find she’d snapped her pencil in half. It occurred to her then that Yamamoto was a lot more observant than most people gave him credit for.

“Yes. And I don’t appreciate those harpies bothering him. Look how uncomfortable he is!” She growled out, returning her gaze to Haya’s group. Yamamoto followed her gaze and hummed thoughtfully at the sight of Gokudera trying to shake one of the girl’s off his arm and growling at the girls he was forced to ‘work’ with. Unfortunately for him, all Hayato’s attempts to get the girls on track and finish the assignment were for naught. The boy next to Tsuna raised a hand into the air.

“Sensei?” he called, and the man in charge of their history class immediately hurried over to them.

“Yes, Yamamoto-kun?”

“Those girls over there are behaving inappropriately and upsetting our new classmate. If it isn’t too much trouble, we’d be happy to work with him.” The baseball player informed their teacher with a tone of concern. The teacher frowned at the two girls, watching the girls in question continue to invade Gokudera’s bubble and bug the silver-haired boy.

“Thank you, Yamamoto-kun. I believe that may be for the best.” The teacher decided, before quickly striding over and breaking up the group. A few moments later Gokudera, looking decidedly ruffled, joined Tsunako and Yamamoto at their table.

“Are you okay, Haya? It looked like those girls were giving you a lot of trouble.” Tsuna inquired, gently catching his hand and giving it a brief squeeze.

“I’m fine, hime.” He grumbled, cheeks tinting pink once more. Then, “thanks for getting me re-assigned to this group” Hayato added. Tsuna shook her head.

“I didn’t. Yamamoto-kun pointed out how inappropriate those girls were behaving to the sensei and offered to let you join us.” Tsuna corrected gently. Both of Gokudera’s eyebrows raised in surprise, and Yamamoto rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly when Hayato turned a surprised gaze on him.

“Well, neither of our groups were going to get anything done with that going on. Sawada-chan wasn’t concentrating on our work either while other girls were bothering her boyfriend.” Yamamoto offered. “And I promised my old man I’d make more of an effort on my school work.” Gokudera’s eyes darted over to Tsuna at the word ‘boyfriend’, and she nodded subtly. Having their attention directed back to the lesson at hand, the group got back to their project once more.

The rest of the day followed a similar pattern, except that Gokudera didn’t join their group again. Apparently the two girls had been listening in on the conversation and spread the word that Tsunako and Hayato were dating. Tsuna felt all the stares and glares from other students and a headache started to throb in her skull.

She could already foresee all the angry fangirls and of Gokudera’s fanclub coming for her head. She’d have to be sure to surround her locker and things with Mist flames to avoid retaliation for ‘daring’ to date Haya. From that point on Tsuna left a Mist barrier that would keep others aside from Her Own and the Senseis from going near her things. Including her desk. She didn’t want to be like the last person driven from Namimori by cruelty. His poor desk had been trashed and TsunaKo had no intention of letting her desk pay for the stupidity of sheeple.

The last class of the day was gym, and though Tsuna ended up on Yamamoto’s team she was not on the same team as Hayato.

“Tch.” Gokudera grumbled when the two team captains started to argue about who would get the ‘disadvantage’ of having Tsunako on their team.

“She should be on our team.” Yamamoto called, surprising everyone else.

“But Yamamoto! We’ll definitely lose if Loser-Tsuna is on our team!” the captain protested.

“What was that you said, you got a death wish?!” Gokudera snarled at the boy in question, who paled and flinched back from the irate Guardian.

“Sawada-chan isn’t that bad, and anyways I’m really good at dodgeball so it’ll balance out.” Yamamoto soothed. Eventually Yamamoto managed to convince everyone to let Tsuna join the team he was on. She made it a point to keep an eye on Gokudera, she knew he was very unhappy about how much they had been separated today. Not surprising, since it was only a day or so after they’d harmonized.

“ _His instincts must be clamoring! I wonder if there’s anything I can do to make this easier on him…”_ she thought ruefully. Then an idea hit her, and she smiled a little fiendishly.

“Hey Haya!” She called across the gym to where her Guardian stood, dead center of his team. Immediately Haya’s gaze was laser focused on her.

“Hai, Hime?”

“Make sure to give it your all! I’m counting on you to give our team a challenge!” She ordered, and Hayato practically lit up.

“Hai, Hime!” He accepted, and Tsuna was glad her plan to soothe his instincts seemed to have worked. He looked more like he was gearing himself up for a fight instead of stewing in anger and reluctance.

“You lot better work hard to win! We won’t make it easy for you!” Gokudera challenged Tsuna’s team. Yamamoto laughed as the teacher blew the whistle to start. To the surprise of everyone except herself and Hayato, Tsuna became a bit of a powerhouse.

She was a dodgeball throwing and catching machine. She could even feel Reborn’s surprise from the rafters, his flames flickering once before going still and intent. She felt a bit irritated that everyone was so surprised. Surely the volleyball game showed her true talent at sports? Just because she was pretending so long…she clicked her tongue in disappointment. She would just have to show them how awesome she truly was. It soon became a war between the three students left standing: Tsuna and Yamamoto vrs Hayato. Hayato ended up winning, but it was a close match.

As the wining team, Hayato’s group was sent back to the lockers to change first. Tsuna’s group was supposed to clean up, as a penalty for losing. Predictably most of her classmates left her to clean on her own. Gokudera’s team had swept him off his feet and into the locker-room on their shoulders for defeating the ‘infamous Dodgeball King Yamamoto!’ before the boy could try to stay behind, so Tsuna was on her own. Or so she thought. She was listlessly grabbing dodgeballs and returning them to the large tub on wheels they were usually kept in when she heard someone else behind her helping. Tsuna turned to find Yamamoto was the other person cleaning up.

“Oh, Yamamoto-kun! I thought you went to the locker room with the others.” She gasped. The boy shook his head.

“Nah, we lost fair-and-square. I don’t think it’s right for the others to make you clean up by yourself. Especially since you lasted longer than almost everyone else. You played a good game today, Sawada-chan.” Yamamoto informed her, pausing to send her one of his blinding (but fake) grins.

“Well…thank you.”

“No problem.” They worked in silence after that, until they were just doing the last bit of cleaning: sweeping up. They were both sweeping, starting from opposite ends of the room. Most of the room was finished, and they swept the dirt and debris into a pile in the middle of the floor when Yamamoto paused and leaned on his broom to look at her.

“Hey, Sawada-chan. Everyone thinks you’re no good at sports, but you’re actually really good, aren’t you?” Yamamoto asked casually. Tsuna paused, knowing Reborn was still watching from above, but in the end decided it couldn’t hurt.

“I’m pretty good, yeah. I just don’t bother in gym class because most of our classmates are rude and call me mean names. Why play my best for people who don’t even treat me well? Also, sports aren’t my favorite thing ever.” Yamamoto tilted his head to the side slightly, considering her words.

“I think, from what I saw today, you might be the only person in our grade on my level. Or at least close to it. Can I ask you for some advice?”

“Sure, but don’t expect me to have all the answers.” Tsuna shrugged easily.

“I’ve been working as hard as I can, but I’m not getting any better at baseball anymore. Got any tips for how I can improve more?” He requested. Tsuna grabbed the dustpan while she thought, bending down so Yamamoto could sweep the pile into the pan.

“Well…” she drawled while taking the pan to empty it. “When you are working super-hard and you’re still plateauing, that’s usually a sign that you are stressing your body too much. You probably need to decrease the amount you practice and work-out, and get extra sleep for a while. You may also want to see a doctor to make sure you haven’t hurt anything and not realized it.” She suggested.

“You think so? But I feel fine.” He protested. Tsuna shook her head.

“When you work out too hard for too long, you can injure yourself and not even realize it. I’m not saying you should take it easy _forever_ , but your body probably needs a break to recover. It’s like with working out, how you’re supposed to alternate what exercises you do so that your body has time to recover from working different muscle groups.” She explained, then shrugged again. “But it’s your body. That’s just my advice. Better safe than sorry, right? I mean, baseball really seems to mean a lot to you. Better to take one evening off and visit with a doctor than to have to take off an entire season because you injured yourself badly.” She pointed out, and Yamamoto nodded seriously.

“That’s a good point. Maybe I’ll call my old man before practice and see what he thinks…” Yamamoto murmured as they put away the cleaning supplies.

“Ja ne, Yamamoto! (See you later, Yamamoto!) Let me know what happens, will you?” With those words and a quick wave, Tsuna quickly strode off to the girl’s locker-room. She wanted a shower before heading home, she’d actually worked up a sweat at school today. Plus Haya was probably waiting for her, she thought.

* * *

Reborn stewed from his place on the rafters. As he’d thought, Tsuanko was much more graceful and poised than someone with a seal should be. One game played especially well could have been down to Tsuna trying especially hard in front of her crush, or her new Guardian, or even performing for Reborn. Two games played at such a high level though…It hadn’t escaped Reborn’s notice that the only people left at the end of the Dodgeball game were those with active flames. Their antics during the Volleyball game definitely required flame-usage. Even most professional athletes couldn’t move and dodge that fast. These were feats that should have been beyond Tsuna.

They were incredible, especially for a sealed Sky. He was happy that the seal was at least cracked, he dreaded to think how bad his student might have been, had the seal been intact. Not much was known about sealing Skies, as it was almost never done, but the very few times it had been…the Skies had been damaged for life. Still, it meant he would need to test Tsunako to find out where her current abilities were at.

Silently he slipped down for the rafters, Leon transforming into a parachute to let them float to the ground. Test plans rushed through his mind as he went, slipping around the building to wait for Tsunako with Gokudera just outside the changing rooms. The girl in question came out at length, looking perfect as she had at the beginning of the day. Reborn silently forgave Tsuna for taking so long. Obviously she understood that she needed to keep up her appearance, as a Sky and future Donna.

“Finally!” The girl proclaimed happily. “Done with school for the day!” She cheered. Gokudera laughed at the young Sky. The girl in question pouted up at her Storm Guardian.

“Mean. I had to spend most of the day with _people_. I was really good! I didn’t even maim those stupid fangirls for daring to put their hands all over you.” The girl pouted at Gokudera, who looked touched. Despite himself, Reborn was impressed. Not only was that a good redirection of her Guardian’s attention, but she also showed every sign of fully accepting Gokudera. He felt a little envious of Gokudera for having such a Sky. With irritation, Reborn felt his flames flicker towards the girl once more.

 _"She is my **student**. Not my Sky.”_ He reminded himself and his flames for what felt like the thousandth time. As though she’d felt his desire, Tsunako’s flames brushed up against his own. He shuddered slightly as the addictive contact washed over him. How he craved a Sky and feeling the flames of a Sky of his own! No, how he craved the flames of _this_ Sky. To his embarrassment, Reborn had failed at the first job of a tutor. He had not kept himself from her influence, nor kept himself neutral. For now he ignored the crack about _people_. After all, she’d had very few good experiences with people. Sometimes it went that way for Skies. He would teach her how to handle people, whether she liked them or not was immaterial.

“Ah, speaking of him being _yours_ ….” Reborn drawled, and both teenagers turned curiously to him. “Why did you allow Yamamoto to think you two are dating?” He demanded, a dark aura leaking from him and his shadow rising ominously behind him. The blasted girl didn’t even look the least bit intimidated by him. Reborn ignored how this made him feel both pleased and exasperated.

“Because we are.” Gokudera was the one who answered, and Reborn felt his irritation flare slightly. Thankfully his flames didn’t escape his control and broadcast his feeling to all and sundry. Especially to the little upstart that was even now glaring at Reborn in challenge. Apparently the brat had forgotten it was Reborn who gave Gokudera the chance to meet a Sky in the first place.

“Oh? And your crush on Yamamoto?” Reborn responded slyly, watching Gokudera pale slightly with pleasure. Then Gokudera seemed to get ahold of himself and gave Reborn a dark look.

“Hime isn’t interested in that baseball idiot.” The boy’s voice was full of conviction, and the girl looked pleased at Gokudera’s words. She reached out and twined her hand with the brats. As she did so, Reborn noticed a flash of light off gemstones. His sharp gaze focused down on Gokudera’s hand, and the girl noticed. Tsuna obligingly turned Gokudera’s hand until the back of his hand and fingers faced Reborn. There, sitting almost innocently on Gokudera’s left Ring-finger was a large masculine ring. Reborn’s world momentarily upended. With a force of will, Reborn moved past the idea that the silly girl may have proposed to Gokudera so soon after meeting him. He would convince her that was a terrible idea. Gokudera was good Guardian material, but not good material for her husband. The back of his mind started planning ways to show Tsunako this fact without severing the Guardian bond.

“I’m not. I told you I wasn’t Reborn. I don’t know where you keep getting that idea.” She huffed. Reborn frowned at the girl, but tried one last time.

“Are you certain, Tsunako? Because he would make an excellent rain guardian. He’s a natural born hitman from a long line of hitmen.” Perhaps his little Skyling was under the misconception the Yamamoto boy was a full civilian? But the girl just frowned and nodded firmly.

“He’s not for me.” She asserted once more and Reborn forced himself to give up the idea of Yamamoto Takeshi as the Vongola Rain Guardian. At least he still had more ideas for the other guardian positions. He’d have to look further afield for a Rain, though. There was no one in Namimori as strong as the Yamamoto boy in Rain flames. Thankfully his next two candidates _were_ stronger than the Yamamoto boy, even though they were different flames. Now that he thought about it, Gokudera was stronger than Yamamoto as well. He’d have to make sure all Guardian candidates were at least as strong as Gokudera in the future. Tsunako seemed to take Reborn’s silence as the agreement it was, for she grew excited.

“Are you two ready for a Namimori-citizen-style tour?” She grinned. Predictably Gokudera brightened at the thought of spending time with his Sky and ….ugh…his girlfriend. Reborn himself was pleased Tsunako was showing such promise as a Boss. Making sure her subordinates knew the lay of the land, as it were, and feeding them. Plus taking care of allies like Reborn, of course. And if his flames purred a bit at her including him, well, Reborn was the only one who had to know.

* * *

Tsuna ended the tour just in front of TakeSushi. She’d made sure the duo knew every inch of Namimori. Including it’s four quarters, all the traditional landmarks like the Hibari Manor, the Graveyard, the Zoo, the town center, the Arcade and Public Pool, the community center/town hall, and of course the train station. She was pleased to see both guys absorbing everything and she could practically see them forming a map in their mind. Now, though, it was time for a traditional Namimori-must!

“And, of course, this is TakeSushi. Like I said, they have the best sushi in the world!” TsuanKo announced as they entered the store, accompanied by the tinkling of the bell above the door.

“Well, thank you for saying so, little lady. But I’m sure there are better sushi restaurants out there.” Yamamoto Sr. laughed. Tsuna gave him _The Look_ she felt that deserved.

“There really aren’t, Yamamoto-san. Is Kaa-san here already?” She disagreed. Yamamoto let the disagreement rest and helpfully escorted them over to where Tsuna’s Kaa-san was already seated. Their table was by the kitchen doorway and the bar, which Tsuna didn’t mind too much as it meant she wasn’t in the middle of people.

“Hello, Kaa-san! We just finished a tour of Namimori!” Tsuna greeted her mother as she practically bounced into a seat across from her Kaa-san. Reborn sat on Tsuna’s left side while Gokudera sat on her right. If her mother minded the unbalanced table, she didn’t so much as hint at it.

“Wonderful! And how do you like Namimori, you two?” Nana asked eagerly.

“It’s unlike any other place I’ve ever been.” Reborn responded tactfully.

“It’s amazing, as to be expected of Hime’s hometown!” Gokudera announced, all bright eyes and enthusiasm. Tsuna kind of wanted to squidge his cheeks a little. He was so adorable when he was being all enthusiastic about anything to do with her. Nana laughed at the boy, who flushed slightly but didn’t dim in the least. It was good he realized Nana wasn’t being mean, just entertained, Tsuna thought.

Drinks were placed one-by-one in front of them all, and Tsuna looked up to find Yamamoto Takeshi waiting on their table with a notebook and pen in hand. She forced herself not to scowl at his presence. Today she’d gone from almost never seeing or noticing the boy to being forced to interact with him all day long. If she wasn’t careful, she’d pull a Hibari and ‘bite’ him ‘to death’ from sheer irritation. In an effort to distract herself while Kaa-san and Reborn ordered for the table, Tsuna looked at what drinks Kaa-san had ordered for them. Reborn had espresso, predictably, while Gokudera had coffee. Tsuna had a glass of cold water, and Nana had an herbal tea.

“Neh, Sawada-chan,” Yamamoto Jr.’s words pulled Tsuna from her contemplation of the drinks to himself.

 ** _"I vote we skip the pleasantries and go straight to ‘biting’ him. He acts like he could use a good biting.”_** Ko growled from inside their mind. Tsuna wisely didn’t allow these thoughts to show on her face.

“Hai (yes), Yamamoto-kun?” she inquired calmly before picking up and sipping at her cold water.

“Thanks for the advice. Tou-san (dad) said it was a really good idea. He’s already booked me an appointment for tomorrow and even excused me from school for the day for the appointment!” Yamamoto Jr. announced. Tsuna gave him a polite smile.

“Good. I hope all goes well, Yamamoto-kun.” Tsuna stated pleasantly. If Yamamoto’s face fell slightly at her no-warmer-than-polite-strangers tone, Tsuna didn’t allow it to affect her. Despite what Reborn tried to tell her, Tsuna was well aware that Yamamoto Jr. was a full civilian. Plus, she hadn’t forgotten how the boy had used her to increase his own popularity. If Yamamoto-kun thought she’d forgotten that he was the one who came up with the nickname ‘Dame-Tsuna’, he was sorely mistaken. After a few moments of awkward silence, Yamamoto laughed that awkward fake laugh of his, thanked her and left to give their orders to his father.

“Kid can’t take a hint.” Gokudera grumbled under his breath. Tsuna linked her hand with his under the table and squeezed reassuringly.

“I think he just did.” She soothed. Gokudera looked thoughtfully at the other teen, who was now waiting on other tables until their order was ready. Tsuna was glad neither of the adults at their table commented. To Tsuna’s smug pride, both Gokudera and Reborn had to admit that TakeSushi’s sushi was indeed the best they’d ever tasted. It may not have meant much for Gokudera, who’d lived in Italy all his life. Reborn, though, had sampled every sort of food around the world and already judged which spots had the best type. To change his mind about sushi was indeed an accomplishment, even if she wasn’t the one making the sushi herself.

Their group stayed until after sunset, until ten o’clock when the restaurant closed. Tsuna kept an eye on things, and was about to speak up and remind the others the restaurant was closing when Yamamoto Sr. caught her eye and gestured for Tsuna’s group to stay for a moment. Tsuna subsided and continued to listen to her mother and Reborn’s debate on the best type of vegetable. It was a surprisingly lively debate, considering it was on vegetables.

Once all the other late customers had been ushered out and the sign turned to ‘closed’, Yamamoto Sr. headed directly to their table. Apparently Haya was paying more attention to their surroundings than Tsuna’d given him credit for. The teen stiffened as Yamamoto came intently towards them. Yamamoto Sr. bowed respectfully to Tsuna, ignoring everyone else at the table.

“I owe you my thanks, Sawada-sama. Because of you my Takeshi confided his troubles to me for the first time since we lost his mother. I also suspect the doctors will find out Takeshi has indeed sustained an injury. Thanks to your advice I was able to convince Takeshi to see a doctor. I am in your debt.” Yamamoto Sr. informed her with another deep bow. Tsuna tilted her head, waiting.

“I never considered allowing Takeshi to serve someone when I still had breath in my body, but if it was you, I would allow it.” He added, meeting TsunaKo’s eyes squarely as he straightened up. Tsuna barely resisted the urge to snarl. Why did everyone insist on trying to set her up with the younger Yamamoto. Being rude or cold wouldn’t help her here, though. She did want to eat the world’s best sushi again sometimes, after all.

“I thank you for your regard, but your son and I are not well-matched. Though I’ve no doubt he would serve well and that his capabilities would be top tier, there are things between us that cannot be resolved. I helped only because Yamamoto-kun asked my advice as a fellow athlete and student.” She answered firmly but not unkindly. The father seemed thunderstruck and her words and a little disbelieving.

“You…rejected Takeshi? But people have been trying to recruit him since he was in diapers…” The man sputtered. Tsuna felt her already short patience further shorten. Under the table Gokudera squeezed Tsuna’s hand, calming her slightly.

“Good. Then he has plenty of prospects. Some even closer to home than my father’s people, I’ll wager. He may even stay civilian.” Tsuna replied, spinning the tiniest bit of her Sky flames into her words. She watched as her words took and Yamamoto Sr. looked happy instead of stunned and dismayed. He nodded to himself.

“You’re right. Thank you again for helping my son. I am in your debt. I will not forget.” Yamamoto Senior insisted firmly, bowing once more. “Your meal tonight is on the house, as will all your meals in the future.” He added, gently ushering the group out the door. Somewhat bemused, Tsuna left with her group. In mere moments they stood outside while Yamamoto locked up inside. She watched silently as Yamamoto went over and gently squeezed the shoulder of Yamamoto junior, who had been cleaning tables. The boy still looked depressed. Well, it was none of her business. She turned back to see the rest of the group watching her intently, even her mother.

“Well, let’s head home. They should be done by now, right Reborn?” Tsuna grinned. Reborn agreed and their group began walking towards the house.

“Hey, hime? What did you mean when you said there were things between you that could not be resolved?” Gokudera asked, and Tsuna could practically see Reborn’s ears perk up. Her mother shook her head sadly at the words.

“That boy, he’s _that_ Yamamoto, then?” Nana asked, and Tsunako smiled grimly.

“Hai (yes).” She agreed with her mother before turning back to Gokudera.

“Yamamoto-kun probably doesn’t even remember…but I won’t forget. That derogatory name you’ve heard me called at school, Dame-Tsuna? He came up with it. We were sort of friends in preschool. Then, around fourth grade he decided he wanted to be ‘cool’ more. Before this point, people may not have been my friends but they weren’t outright cruel. Yamamoto-kun sacrificed our friendship for popularity. He wasn’t particularly liked or disliked before then. He hadn’t learned to be fake enough to pass as ‘normal’ back then. So he learned how to use his cruelty first. He started to bully me, and got the other kids in on it. Set them on a common ‘enemy’ as himself, as it were. Eventually he learned how to fake being nice and became genuinely popular, and then he stopped messing with me. Forgot me entirely then. He hasn’t joined in on the teasing or bullying since then, but he never apologized or otherwise made up for it either. He betrayed me, and I will never forget it. I cannot forgive it.” She explained, voice low and dark. Gokudera paled with anger and fear. Reborn tilted his fedora down over his eyes, and she could feel his killing intent fill the air.

“But Hime, _I_ attacked you. Will I ever get your forgiveness?” Haya whispered. Tsuna sighed and turned a gentle smile on her Guardian.

“You attacked me to test me, on Reborn’s order. You never actually intended to kill me. And you weren’t a friend before that. If you’d been my friend and then lied to me and succeeded in making me think you wanted to kill me, then I wouldn’t have forgiven you. See the difference? You were already forgiven.” Tsuna told him. Gokudera met her eyes and felt through their bond. When he encountered her sincerity and fondness, he relaxed.

“Thank you, Hime. I will never lie to you or attack you outside of sparring and training.” He vowed. She smiled fondly at him once more.

“I know, Haya.” She promised, then she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. With amusement she watched Haya sputter and flush a deep red.

“H-Hime!” He exclaimed. She laughed and did it again to watch his blush deepen and spread to his ears and neck.

“We’re here. What do you think, Tsunako?” Reborn interrupted Tsuna’s game of seeing how far she could get Haya’s blush to go. Tsuna released her squawking Guardian and turned to look up at the newly renovated and expanded house. Her cloud flames flared inside her violently at the violation to what was _hers_ , but Tsuna controlled the flames tightly so Reborn wouldn’t feel it.

 _He did this **for** me and to **my** plans.”_ Tsuna reminded herself, Ko, and their flames. Their Cloud flames settled down while Tsuna looked over the house. She had excellent night vision and the streets were well-lit besides so it wasn’t any trouble for her to see the place. Despite supposedly being according to Tsuna’s plans, it was immediately obvious Reborn had…altered things slightly. For one thing, either he’d added a third floor or the ceilings were much higher than planned for. From the outside and the window placements, Tsuna guesstimated the two floors had nine foot tall ceilings. Every room had at least one huge window, and Tsuna could see faint traces of lightning flames infused in the glass. The glass was likely bullet, tank, and missile-proof as well, she thought ruefully. Still, at least he’d allowed her windows at all.

The front yard, which now stretched as far as the house, was also bigger than it should have been. Tsuna could feel the Mist flames which had been used to slide the original house further back on the property. There was now a large front garden area, as well as a nice semi-circular driveway that passed in front of both the garage and the front door.

When they entered, Tsuna saw (to her relief) that most of the original house was the same, except for the changes she’d authorized. When she looked out of the windows, she felt Mist flames infusing the insides. Inspecting the windows curiously, Tsuna found that the windows were rather like one-way mirrors. The windows would always show empty rooms but the outside was visible completely as it actually was.

Reborn had changed the back dimensions of the house, however. The bathrooms had been changed utterly. Obviously Reborn had taken what Tsuna wanted into account, and then amped it up to a thousand. Upon inspecting the bathrooms, however, Tsuna found she approved of the changes. The last room was what worried her the most. Catiously Tsuna approached her new room. To her delighted surprise, she found Mist flames had been used to move Tsuna’s room from it’s old position (which had been filled in with new construction) instead of demolishing it.

Her ‘new room’ had some of the same walls as her old one. Her bed had been ‘stretched’ with Cloud flames until it was big enough to fit nine adults who were nine feet tall comfortably. More bed than she would probably ever need, but she had let Reborn be in charge of the construction. And he’d obviously gone out of his way to instruct the construction company to use the original pieces of the home whenever possible.

She now had a walk-in closet, and upon peeking inside she found it was mostly empty. There were a couple of new suits and dresses, both formal and casual, as well as her old clothes and dresser. There was also a new shoe rack, and a hat rack. There was a place to hang belts, and an empty set of shelves.

The main room now also had a vanity area, including a cute little amber bench and bright lights all around that lit up with either a touch or voice command. A floor-to-ceiling jewelry rack with hooks, shelves, and mesh for earrings took up a portion of the wall on the right side of the vanity. The walls were white, and Tsuna threw a Mist illusion up on the walls and ceiling. The ceiling immediately looked like the sky outside. Or rather what the Sky outside would look like without pollution, the city’s lights, or the rest of the city blocking the way. Currently it was filled with stars. The walls took on the illusion of a forest, making the room look rather like a strange clearing in the middle of the forest. There were even animals that wandered around the walls or flew across the ‘sky’ sometimes.

Tsuna’s bathroom was also more extravagant than she’d planned, but again she liked the changes Reborn made, so she let it be. There was also a large antique desk in her room now, with a deluxe chair behind it. The chair looked like the most comfy chair she had ever seen, despite being a formal leather and gold studs old-fashioned affair. Sitting in it, Tsuna found it was in fact the most comfy chair she’d ever come across. Some floor-to-ceiling bookshelves covered one wall, all around a fireplace. It seemed a bit like a fire-hazard, but Tsuna wasn’t going to complain. Her new bedroom took up the entire end of the new extension, and had three very large windows with one on each outer wall.

The last change to her room came in the form of a door connecting Tsuna’s room with the bedroom across from Gokudera’s. Tsuna sighed but allowed it. Just like in her old room, Reborn’s hammock hung in one corner, though this time it was a lot less close to the ceiling.

“Hime! Reborn wants to show us the basement!” Haya called, poking his head into her doorway.

“Hai.(okay/yes)” Tsuna replied wearily, and her Guardian frowned in concern. Tsuna waved him off and followed him downstairs to the space next to the kitchen where the stairs still resided. The stairs now also had a flight going down to a basement level. A chill and terror raced up Tsuna’s spine as she considered that the construction company (or worse, Reborn!) might have come across her private lab space. She practically raced down the stairs ahead of the others, Cloud flames flaring aggressively. The others followed bemusedly behind.

When she got to the bottom, she felt a deep-seated relief. Tsuna had surrounded her lab and workshop in her Mist flames just in case. Between that preventative measure and the distance the house had been moved back, her lab remained undiscovered. She relaxed slightly as she took in the new basement without reservation. This new basement had a couple shooting ranges, equipped with Mist flames to make them more interesting. It also had a couple empty workspaces/labs/studies in case future guardians needed them. There was a security room, a weapons storage room, a library, and of course an area dedicated to interrogation and imprisonment.

“It’s okay.” Tsuna told Reborn, who preened at the understated praise from his Cloudy student. Next Reborn led them to the back yard. They stepped out of the house and onto a stone porch with a roof. The left the porch and stepped down to a stone patio area, complete with several small round tables with chairs and outdoor fireplace. Off to the left-hand side of the yard was a large garden, which Tsuna privately thought no one person could take care of. She began to wonder if Reborn had also hired servants for her family… . At the back, near the fence between the sidewalk on the other side of the block and their property, sat two large buildings.

“The one on the right is a gym and workout building. It has all the usual workout equipment rooms, as well as a leisure pool and lap pool. There is a large hot tub, a steam room, a theater, and also includes a hospital floor for a doctor to work. The one on the left is a training facility. It includes obstacle courses, a couple more shooting ranges, a safety area for practicing demolitions and disarming bombs, a smaller library, and a few other things.” Reborn explained to Tsuna, who felt more than a little overwhelmed.

“I see.” Tsuna replied noncommittally. Reborn looked at her from the corner of his eyes but didn’t comment on the lack of excitement.

“I’m tired, Reborn.” She sighed, and Reborn immediately turned to face her in concern. After scrutinizing her, Reborn nodded sharply.

“It has been a long day. It would be best to get your homework out of the way and head to bed tonight. Tomorrow I’m going to test you to establish your base-levels. You should be well rested before your tests.” The tiny man directed. With a weary nod, Tsuna followed her mother and Hayato back to the house. Reborn took the shoulder-express, riding on Tsuna’s shoulder back to her room. She seated herself at the small table in her new room, pulled out her homework and finished it. Reborn corrected everything, and finally TsunaKo was allowed to go to bed.

To her dismay, Tsuna found herself tossing and turning. Reborn, of course, drifted of to sleep almost immediately. Either that or he was pretending. With a grumble, Tsuna slipped out of her bed and over to the door.

“Going somewhere Tsunako?” Reborn’s voice purred from the darkness, and Tsuna could feel that heavy gaze on her without looking.

“Hai (yes), just wanted some tea. I also need to make sure Haya doesn’t need anything.” Tsuna replied immediately.

“Very well. I expect you back soon.” Reborn allowed, and Tsuna forced her shoulders to remain relaxed. She nodded once, a short and jerky movement, and left the room. After closing the door behind herself, Tsuna pressed her ear up against Hayato’s door. Hearing a few muttered curses from inside, Tsuna very quietly rapped upon the door. 

“Hai? (yes?)” Hayato called out.

“I was wondering if I could take a moment of your time.” Tsuna responded quietly to the door. Immediately a thumping sound, very like someone scrambling to get off a bed and falling off it instead, came from within. It was followed closely by the door opening to show Hayato, who was hiding something in one hand behind his back. Tsuna arched an eyebrow in curiosity, but stepped forward as Gokudera stepped back and gestured her in. Once the door was safely closed behind them, Hayato stopped hiding what he was holding. It was revealed to be a book on chakra exercises Tsuna had given to Haya that morning. She was pleased to see him working on learning what she’d given him.

“What’s up?” He asked with concern, ushering Tsuna over to the chair at his own desk. She noted that his own room wasn’t quite as big and lavish as hers (his bed was a Queen-size at most). His room also had white walls, and Tsuna had to refrain from throwing an illusion at the walls. Maybe she would offer to do it for him once he’d seen the changes she’d made to her own décor.

“I’m just…overwhelmed.” She admitted with a huff. “I like most of the changes but…it’s….hard. I don’t like so many huge changes to that which is _mine._ The unanticipated changes, even the ones I like, are also difficult.” She grumbled. Immediately Haya placed a book mark into his book and set it on his nightstand. Then he crossed over to her and bent down to draw her up into a hug.

“I’m sorry, Hime. I wish there was something I could do to make this easier for you.” He whispered. Tsuna hugged her Guardian back.

“You do help. Just talking with you helps. Someday you’ll have your hand-to-hand down well enough to spar with me when things like this happens. That helps too, most of the time. I’m going to leave a clone with you for an hour to run you through katas and things after I leave. Tomorrow I’ll have you practicing again while Reborn is testing me. It should be easy enough to substitute a henge-d clone of you while Reborn isn’t looking. It isn’t even remotely the same as having you actually there, of course, but we can’t waste time with the training for either of us. Run through what you learned yesterday for me?” Tsuna requested, and Gokudera immediately moved through the series of moves he’d been taught the night before. Tsuna carefully corrected the few mistakes she saw, and then formed a clone to further help Haya.

“Thank you for helping me, and for being willing to learn.”

“Of course, Hime! I’m just glad to be yours.” Hayato assured her instantly.

“Goodnight kiss?” She requested somewhat shyly. Gokudera flushed, but obligingly leaned down and gently pressed his lips to her forehead.

“Goodnight, Hime. Sweet dreams.” He murmured. Tsuna smiled up at him and kissed his cheek. Her new Guardian still flushed endearingly when she did that.

“Sweet dreams, Haya.” She agreed before heading downstairs to get a cup of tea. She sipped the tea on her way back to bed, and placed the mostly-empty cup on her night stand as she slipped back under the covers.

“Goodnight, Reborn-san.” She whispered.

“Goodnight, Tsunako.” He replied without opening his eyes. Tsuna fell quickly asleep with a small smile on her lips. Everything would be okay.

* * *

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! A new chapter was finally posted! If you've missed the other changes I made to the story, don't worry. There wasn't anything major changed. Mostly just spelling corrections and pictures added.
> 
> I've actually had this story half-written for a while, but I just couldn't get the second half to work. Today I finally got the second half going, and it wouldn't stop! This chapter is a whopping sixteen pages long!!! @_@' 
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.
> 
> ~ Wingzrooke


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Featuring: two new faces! Both ignored. Once again, TsunaKo exceeds expectations, and Hayato works hard!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: A lot of the speech in this chapter (especially Lambo's), comes directly from the Anime though I did somewhat change the circumstances of meeting.

* * *

* * *

If TsunaKo expected a few days of downtime, she would have been sadly mistaken. As it was, she’d gotten used to having chaotic lives a long time ago. Perhaps that was why she barely noticed when a tiny child in a cow onesie crashed through the open window to sprawl on the floor, one hand limply tossing a grenade at Reborn.

“Die, Reborn!” The cow child cried, the sound muffled by the wooden flooring. Tsuna reflected that the new study room had great acoustics. Even with his face pressed against the wood, the toddlers words were clear. Predictably Reborn batted the grenade back at the child without even turning to look. Seeing that Reborn didn’t think the child a threat, Tsunako kept her attention on her current workbook. Mafia studies were just as important as regular studies, after all. She hardly noticed as the explosion sent the child flying back out of the window, Ko snickering in the back of her mind. A moment later the door opened and Gokudera poked his head in.

“Everything alright in here? I thought I heard an explosion…” Haya asked, looking around for telltale traces and only finding a minimal amount of scorching left behind. To his experienced eye, there wasn’t enough scorching to indicate deadly explosives. Maybe, at a stretch, the explosive in question had been strong enough to maim someone. Not to outright kill them, though.

**“SOME IDIOT CHILD TRYING TO HARM REBORN. NOT REALLY STRONG ENOUGH TO BE MORE THAN A BOTHER.”** Ko reported while Tsuna kept on reading. Hayato nodded solemnly. From the doorway to the bedroom, a small boy’s voice whispered

_“Tol-er-ate!”_ a few times. She continued to look at the workbook while Reborn orated. Gokudera looked down with a rather nonplussed expression to see a child had somehow slipped through his legs and stood just before the storm, tears and snot running down his face. He felt a little bad for the little guy, but that’s the way life is. No one from the top Famiglias associated with those from the smaller Famiglias without express invitation from the top to the bottom. That’s what underlings were for, to deal with the small fry. On that note, perhaps he should see the child out…?

“Be sure to memorize the members of this famiglia, they are close enough allies that you will be expected to know all of them.” Reborn directed, pointing at a specific part of the page. Tsuna nodded seriously, and the cow child ratcheted up his crying a few decibels.

* * *

_“I feel a bit bad for you, kid. But you should know better than to bother Hime and her tutor.”_ Gokudera scolded, withdrawing some of his smaller ‘pest-control’ dynamite from inside his jacket. A small flicker of sun flames activated the mixture at the end of the wick, and also drew Reborn’s attention. The Hitman looked up sharply as Hayato threw the stick of dynamite at the child. To his surprise the child, despite obviously being a Mafia child, didn’t even attempt to dodge. Internally Hayato shrugged. Well, he had used a small-charge one. The child wouldn’t be seriously hurt. Despite being an irritant, he had a feeling Hime would be upset with him, should he harm a child that wasn’t a serious threat.

The dynamite went off a second after it bounced off his tiny fluffy afro and onto the ground in front of the child. The child in question was flung onto his backside, and his crying became hysterical. Hime looked up in interest for the first time since Hayato entered the room as the child pulled a huge…well, it looked something like a purple hand-held cannon with a gun grip and trigger. He noted the long string connected to the trigger just as the hysterically crying cow jumped _into_ the barrel, fitting snugly. Before Hayato had time to act, the string was pulled from inside the barrel and a small clicking sound emanated before an explosion of pink smoke filled the air.

Immediately Hayato ran to Hime’s side, standing in front of her protectively with dynamite in one hand and a knife in the other. It would seem the child was more of a threat than he’d thought. He wouldn’t make that mistake again. The smoke started to clear, and a young man, maybe a year younger than Hime’s sixteen, strode calmly through the smoke towards them. Hayato didn’t sense any chakra or mist flames, so he doubted it was some sort of summoning.

When the smoke cleared enough that the trio could see the young man fairly well, Hayato noted the other boy wore the black jacket and black-splotched shirt combo of the Bovino Famiglia. His hair, while tamer than the afro the toddler sported, was still somewhat poofy, and he wore a strange set of sandals. Not like the ninja-sandals his textbooks showed, but perhaps the boy was imitating them…?

“…for crying out loud…” the young man grumbled to himself, surveying the group through one lazy eye. Gokudera felt his left eye twitch a little. Something about this guy rubbed him the wrong way. Raising a hand in greeting, the other boy raised his voice a little.

“It’s been awhile, young tenth-generation Vongola Boss.” The young man called. Gokudera’s eye twitched again. No one should have had that information. Hime had yet to be officially announced, and her identity should have been kept secret until the official announcement. Slightly behind and to the side of Hayato, Reborn showed no reaction. Hayato relaxed only slightly. Whoever this was, Reborn had arranged for them to meet Hime. Perhaps the child too. Time to get some information.

“Who are you?” Hime asked, speaking up before Hayato could. _This guy looks familiar_ , Hayato thought to himself.

“Thanks for helping me ten years ago.” The young man replied, answering exactly nothing. Hime growled slightly, and Hayato tensed. Waiting for an order or a threat.

“I’ve never met you before in this life.” Hime replied flatly.

“I’m Lambo the Crybaby.” The guy added, as though that made sense. Hime continued to stare at him flatly. Obviously this new information meant even less to her.

“The Ten-Year Bazooka, huh?” Reborn commented idly. The look on Hime’s face said she was not amused. Gokudera had heard of this weaponry, though.

“It’s a weapon that lets a person trade places with their ten-years-future-selves for five minutes. It’s said to have been passed down in the Bovino Famiglia for several generations.” He informed Hime grimly.

“Making this child the Bovino heir? I can’t imagine they’d give such a weapon to just anyone, let alone just any toddler.” Hime commented, examining the young man through narrow eyes.

“Mah, well, the Famiglia never had much use for me. They hoped you might take me on as your lightning guardian, I think. I don’t care about that, though. I’m here to challenge you, Reborn! See how much I’ve changed!” The youth cried, and Hime sweat-dropped as all three teens looked to Reborn to find the tiny man filing his nails and ignoring the kid.

“Good grief. I guess I’ll have to resort to brute force.” The youth murmured to himself before pulling a yellow set of instruments that looked rather like a set of cow-horns.

“Thunder-Set!” The boy cried, his lightning flames lighting up the background like some sort of shonen anime. Lightning flashed around the young man’s body and the horns glowed strongly. Hayato was willing to be there were some sun flames stored in the horn material.

“My horns carry a million volts.” The boy proclaimed, and Gokudera scoffed. That really wasn’t a lot of electricity for a lightning flame. Gokudera could produce more than that himself, and Lightning was his second weakest flame.

“Die Reborn! Electrico Cornada!” The kid yelled as he rushed at the hitman. While the kid ran, Reborn’s strange animal companion changed shape into… a cane? As soon as the brat was within striking distance, Reborn lashed out with the cane and thumped the teen on the head. Said teen went down like a pile of bricks, and Hayato was even less impressed. Stealing a look at Hime, Hayato wasn’t surprised to see what little interest she’d had in the conflict was gone. She’d gone back to reading her mafia lesson-book.

“H..Hold i-it inn!” The young man chanted before he broke down bawling again, turning and running away. As he ran away, a poof of pink smoke surrounded him again and the younger child was back, still crying. Gokudera pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to stave off a headache.

“Haya. Retrieve the irritant and give it to Kaa-chan.” Hime ordered, still not looking up.

“Hai!(Yes!) Right away, Hime!” He immediately responded. Quickly Gokudera strode over to where the child sat on the floor, picked up the brat by the back of his onesie, and towed the child out of the room. He set a quick pace, not quite running but definitely faster than a normal walk as he headed back from the training and study building to the main house. He found Nana in the kitchen, cutting up some vegetables and making lemonade.

“Ara? Hayato-kun, who’s this?” Hime’s mother asked, setting down the knife and wiping her hands on her apron as she turned to face the duo.

“Hime said to give this irritant to you, Sawada-san.” Hayato informed her, holding out the crying child. The child swung slightly with the movement, and Nana was quick to take the toddler from Hayato. Seeing his duty discharged, Hayato bowed and turned to go continue practicing his new hand to hand moves.

“What am I supposed to do with you, little one?” He heard Nana murmur behind him.

“I’m Lambo! I’m the five-year-old Hitman of the Bovino Famiglia! I like Grape Candy and Reborn is my fated rival!” The young boy, who apparently was older than Hayato gave him credit for. The brat certainly wasn’t as tall as any five-year-old Hayato had ever seen, though, so he cut himself some slack. Maybe it was a growth disorder? Still, for a five year old to come out and talk about mafia to a woman who was obviously a civilian…not good. Well, Nana was Hime’s mother. She’d probably have ended up learning about the Mafia one way or another. Assuming Hime hadn’t already told her Kaa-san.

* * *

Once her mafia studies were concluded, Reborn took his student into the gym area to begin testing her. As she began repetitions of sit-ups, he brooded. Introducing the Bovino brat had not gone according to plan. Of course, he’d assumed the boy would do a regular introduction, not that he’d try to ‘kill’ Reborn with his toy weapons. Just where had the child gotten the idea he was supposed to kill Reborn?

Regardless of his method of introduction, the boy hadn’t made any headway with REobrn’s student. Needless to say, Tsunako’s reaction to the child hadn’t been what he’d hoped for. It was too soon to tell, the child hadn’t been outright rejected, but Reborn had a feeling he was now down both a Rain and Lightning Guardian.

While he thought, Leon faithfully kept track of the number of sit-ups, having changed to a scoreboard for the occasion. It wasn’t until he looked up and saw the current number at five thousand that Reborn started to truly pay attention.

“Are you using Cloud-flames to do this test?” Reborn demanded, and the girl laughed. She didn’t even sound winded!

“No, Reborn-san. I just have a lot of stamina. I can continue doing sit-ups all day. Same with crunches and push-ups. Plus I work out a little.” The girl denied, and his own flames didn’t detect other flames in use, so he reluctantly believed her.

“What about pull-ups?” He demanded. The girl shrugged and continued to do sit-ups.

“Not quite as good as the others, but I can do them all day too.” She admitted. Reborn grudgingly told her to stop doing sit-ups and had her start jumping hurdles. Her clearance was far beyond what any normal, even mafia-normal teen of her age could do without flames. Reluctantly Reborn found himself impressed. He was glad he’d already decided to throw out the report CEDEF gave him, because it was less useless than trash. He had her go through various other exercises, including running on the treadmill. There was even a section where he had her do some parkour and free running. Again Tsunako did not fail to impress. Reborn noted they could still work on her flexibility some, though.

“Enough.” He called, and his student left the free-running track to jog back to his side. “Take a seat,” he instructed. “We’re going to test your flames and your control over them.” Obligingly the girl dropped to sit cross-legged. Reborn turned so he faced her, and briskly ordered “Light up.” The girl laughed at the command but obligingly her Sky flames emanated from every part of her body.

Despite something similar happening when the girl bonded with her first guardian, Reborn truly hadn’t expected her to be able to manifest her flames like this. At most he’d expected her to be able to manifest a single lick of flame somewhere. On the hand was the usual location, though the Sawada line usually manifested first in front of their forehead. For now he ignored this issue. So she had bulk, but did she have control? He already knew she possessed the purest Sky flames he’d ever felt. And the strength of her flames was undeniable. After all, her flames called to _his_ , and no Sky had ever drawn him the way she and her flames did.

“Very well, now take it down to a single lick of flame in your palm, please.” He instructed. Without words, the girl complied. He was pleased to see that she was actually using less flames, not just compacting the same amount of flame into a smaller size.

“Good, and now your Cloud flames.” The Sky flames faded from sight and Cloud flames covered her body from head to toe before dwindling down to a single lick of flame, just like with the Sky flame. Thankfully the amount and strength of Cloud flames was slightly less than that of her Sky flames. Only by a small margin, but there was a difference. That meant it should be easier to find Guardians for her than if she was exactly half-Cloud. Clouds were notoriously difficult to wrangle and teach. They were even harder to get to accept new people.

“Would you like me to show you my Mist flame as well, Reborn-san?” She asked coyly, and Reborn felt his flames stutter for a moment. She had _three_ flames?! Surely the last one would be tiny, with the first two being so strong. Still, the girl defied all other expectations thus far, better to find out what he was working with than to be surprised later. He nodded, and the Mist flames flared up. It probably shouldn’t surprise him, but he was stunned to find the purity and strength of the Mist flames rivalled that of her Cloud. It was clear he was going to have his hands full.

On the bright side, the girl clearly had the basics down and was in good physical shape. Her studies were coming along well, now that he’d gotten her to actually do her homework and take her testing seriously. She still pretty much slept through her classes, but Reborn didn’t care about that. It was clear the classes were doing little, if anything, to teach her. Perhaps he should enroll her in online courses? If she could test out of high school, he could get her enrolled in an online collage. There were lots of different courses offered in college, even online, that would be much more beneficial than sitting through classes she didn’t really need.

He was also pleased with the potential she showed in flames and as a boss. He practically salivated at the thought of what he could turn a student with this much potential into. She would be his masterpiece, most likely. Of course everyone would assume he’d put more work into her than he actually had, due to CEDEF’s faulty reports. That hardly mattered, though. In fact it would only boost his reputation.

Before all that, though, there was at least one more potential guardian he wanted her to meet before he got her enrolled online. All these thoughts flew through his mind in milliseconds, his genius brain clicking away at light speed. It was a little known fact that Reborn was a genius, not being as obviously apparent as with Verde. Which meant he was done considering his options just as the girl let her Mist flames fade away. He hated to ask, because it boggled the mind but…

“Any other flames?” He asked dryly. The girl shook her head, and he felt a bit relieved. Not that he would show it, of course. He nodded once, sharply. His mind whirled through several tracks of thoughts at once, and he decided upon his next course of action.

“Now we’re going to test how well you move through different terrains….” He informed his student gleefully, leading her from the building and out into the town. He thought he might start her at the beach. Despite her strange athleticism and endurance, he was willing to bet she didn’t train with running on sand…

* * *

Hayato performed through his last exercise, and the clone teaching him nodded approvingly. Finally! The clones approval signaled he would be allowed to start the next set of katas, and Hayato was pleased with his own progress. The clone seemed pleased too, which translated to Hime being proud of his progress since the clone’s mind was linked to Hime’s and it represented how she herself would handle things. He glowed a little as he concentrated on watching the Hime-clone demonstrate the first of the next katas. The clone paused when it noticed the Gokudera-clone in the corner stand and exit the room. Hayato glowered a little at the now-empty doorway, knowing its absence meant Hime was going somewhere. Still, she’d ordered him to train today so that was what he would focus on. He turned his attention back to the clone to keep working.

* * *

Reborn was in the middle of having his student run over the sand, towing twenty tires behind her on chains that led from the tires to where they wrapped around her waist, when a shiver made its way down his spine. He had the terrible feeling he’d forgotten something important…

* * *

A woman with beautiful long pink hair and wearing designer clothes stepped off her plane like a runway model walking down a catwalk. Gently she removed the glasses from her eyes as she surveyed the tiny airport.

“ _I’m coming for you, My Love. You won’t get away from me this time_.” She thought, aiming an imaginary gun filled with love in the direction of her equally imaginary love interest. She let the mental picture go with a sigh and quickly strode through the airport to her taxi. Love waited on no woman.

* * *

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! I finally learned how to do the tiny-caps text! Now Ko's speech is a little more distinctive! Woot! I received some really great reviews last chapter, so I wanted to put out a new chapter right away to show my gratitude! Thanks for making me smile, reviewers!
> 
> ~ Wingzrooke


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reborn tries to introduce a new Guardian...again. He wasn't expecting the result this time, either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double-update today! Woot!

* * *

* * *

Mornings were not a good time for TsunaKo. Sure, she did her best nowadays. Mostly she got by through getting up an hour earlier than she needed to, so she could get ready and her brain would be fully awake. Something she hadn’t been able to do today. This was exacerbated by being on her own, Hayato staying behind a few minutes to finish up his morning practice of Kata and chakra meditation. Instead she’d resorted to drinking a bracing green-tea and slumping her way through the rest of the morning. Hence her current unmotivated shamble towards school. As she trudged her weary way forward, a woman on a bicycle pulled level with Tsuna.

“You look exhausted! Here, this soda has plenty of sugar that will help you make it through the morning!” The pink-haired interloper offered, then outright _chucked_ the can at TsunaKo. Then the woman sped off, not even waiting to see whether Tsuna would drink the soda. Not willing to take things from strangers, especially such suspicious ones, Ko dodged to the side and let the can smash to the pavement. Her eyes widened and her eyebrows rose of their own volition as the smashed soda began to radiate noxious fumes.

Ko quickly moved them backwards, out of range of the fumes. A bird fell onto the ground where they’d just been standing. At first it was just unconscious, twitching like it was having a seizure. Then it stilled, very obviously dead. Tsuna wrinkled her nose and pulled out her phone. The woman was already out of sight, so she couldn’t take a picture. Instead she opened a chat.

INCIDENT REPORT:

DoneWLife:

> > Thought you’d want to know. A Strange foreigner with long pink hair, designer clothes, and riding a bicycle is throwing cans of noxious poison at people. Currently about half a block from intersection D6-L9. Soda and poison still on ground.

Poor Schmuk:

> > Thank you for letting us know, Sawada-chan.
>> 
>> A team will be there shortly. Please do not be late to class.

With a shrug Tsuna tucked her phone away and continued her slog to school. The rest of her pre-school morning continued on in this theme. When she got to the school gates, she found the slimy upperclassman Mochida Kensuke bothering the class female idol Sasagawa Kyoko. While true that TsunaKo wasn’t particularly fond on any of her schoolmates, Sasakawa-chan had always been unfailingly kind to TsunaKo and never taken part in bullying or making fun of her. One mental grumble about idiot sheeple directed at the crowd around the couple, TsunaKo forced her way through via gratuitous use of elbows.

“Mochida! Knock it off! Can’t you tell Sasagawa isn’t interested? And you’re drawing a crowd. Get to your own class before you draw Hibari-sempai down on all of us!” Tsuna scolded, doing her best to keep her words nice. Unfortunately the idiot proved his idiocy by opening his mouth and not taking the out Tsuna gave him.

“I don’t want to hear that from the likes of you, you pervert! You think I can’t tell you just want her for yourself?!” He cried, pointing accusingly at her. “I challenge you to a duel! The prize is Kyoko!” He added in a shout. Tsuna felt her eye twitch. Well, the moron asked for it.

 **“FIRST OF ALL, SASAGAWA-CHAN IS A PERSON, NOT AN OBJECT. THE ONLY PERSON WHO GETS TO DECIDE WHAT SHE DOES AND DOESN’T DO IS HERSELF. SECONDLY, WHAT PART OF MY ACTIONS HAS BEEN PERVERTED? YOU’RE THE ONE STALKING A GIRL TWO YEARS YOUNGER THAN YOURSELF THAT OBVIOUSLY ISN’T INTERESTED, _SEMPAI_. THIRDLY, I HAVE A BOYFRIEND, IDIOT. AND EVEN IF I DIDN’T, I’M NOT INTERESTED IN _ANY_ GIRL THAT WAY. NO OFFENSE, SASAGAWA-CHAN.” **Ko sneered at the older boy. Just then Gokudera jabbed his way through the crowd to join her. Her ‘boyfriend’ glared at the older boy for his words.

“None taken, Sawada-chan. I thank you for speaking up for me.” Sasagawa replied shyly, looking up bashfully from underneath her eyelashes. It was things like that which made idiots like Mochida think she was flirting with them, Tsuna thought with a huff. She knew the girl wasn’t being intentionally coy, though. She nodded to Sasagawa-chan and turned her attention to Mochida.

“Well, are you going to leave or am I going to have to alert the disciplinary committee?” Tsuna demanded as Sasagawa’s friend Kurokawa Hana joined them. Mochida huffed out a few sentences full of bravado but after a few more minutes and no support from the crowd of sheeple, he stormed off. “Good riddance.” Tsuna grumbled. “We should get to class.” She pointed out to those now standing with her. Suiting actions to words, she threaded her fingers through Hayato’s and tromped off towards the classroom. Wordlessly Gokudera passed her a thermos of new, hot, tea. Tsuna gave him a wordless noise of thanks, immediately passing him the empty thermos she’d drunk on the way to class. 

Thankfully Tsuna was able to sleep through most of her classes, as usual, though her intuition warned her against eating or even opening her bento. Guessing it was more of the monkey business from this morning, Tsuna led Hayato to the disciplinary committee ‘club’ headquarters.

“Sawada-chan.” Kusakabe Tetsuya immediately stood from his secretary-like desk just outside the chairman’s doorway. “Thank you for your report this morning.” He added, with a slight bow. With a slight nod in return greeting, TsunaKo was about to speak when the demon prefect himself opened his door and entered the conversation.

“Carnivores. What are you doing here?” Hibari greeted. Ko turned them and inclined their head slightly more than they had for Kusakabe.

 **“ SOMEONE HAS BEEN GOING AROUND GIVING POISONED FOOD TO PEOPLE. I HAVE BROUGHT ANOTHER SAMPLE. SOMEONE, LIKELY THE SAME WOMAN, TAMPERED WITH MY BENTO WHILE IT WAS STORED IN MY LOCKER.”** Ko informed the two committee people. The head of the disciplinary committee stalked forward and swiped the bento from her hand. Ko grabbed Gokudera and dragged him backwards as she moved out of range while Hibari made to open the Bento. The prefect raised one slender eyebrow in surprise and held the bento further away from his body as he opened it.

As soon as the lid was cracked, the same noxious fumes as last time began to leak out. Before the lid was all the way off, Gokudera made a sick sound and collapsed to the ground, holding his stomach and sweating.

 ** _“Haya!”_** Tsuna shrieked, instantly back in control with concern over her Guardian and ‘Boyfriend’.

“I’ll be alright, Hime.” Gokudera gritted out through clenched teeth. “And it may be a coincidence, but that looks like poison cooking to me. Someone else may know the technique, but I’ve only heard of The Poison Scorpion using this technique. I’ve been a victim of it in the past, so I recognize it.” Hayato informed the committee members.

“The person who uses it, a foreigner with pink hair, do you know them?” Kusakabe inquired politely.

“Hai.(Yes.) It's my older sister, known as the Poison Scorpion: Falco Bianchi. You ran into her earlier today, Hime?” Hayato reported. Tsuna nodded, drawing Hayato partially onto her lap and placing his head in the hollow between her neck and shoulder.

“Meditation breathing.” She ordered. Obediently Hayato closed his eyes and began to breath in-and-out to a silent count. Gently she surrounded him in her Sky flames, though she didn’t make them strong enough to be visible. After a few moments he collected himself and drew away from her with embarrassment.

 **“THERE IS NO SHAME IN THE NEED TO RECOVER FROM THE TRAUMA OF SYSTEMATIC ABUSE, HAYATO. ”** Ko gently (for her) reproved as she stood. Hayato stood and nodded gratefully.

“Who is this herbivore to you, Carnivores?” Kyoya asked sharply, looking intrigued. Ko inclined her head regally.

“Gokudera Hayato is a Carnivore, though not on either of our levels yet. He is my first Guardian and also my mate. Haya, this is Hibari Kyoya-sempai. He is the head of the Namimori Disciplinary Committee. If you run into anyone or anything suspicious, or see someone breaking the rules, it is to be reported to a committee member. The other person is Kusakabe Tetsuya, second-in-command of the Committee and the one who gathers all the reports. I’m sure by now you’ve seen the regular committee members, so I won’t bother describing the others.” Tsuna introduced, taking over for the introductions and day-to-day minutia. Hayato bowed properly one he was introduced, and Kusakabe did the same. Of course Hibari just nodded slightly. Carnivores, in Hibari’s world, didn’t bow to anyone except Carnivores stronger than themselves.

“I wonder what Falco-san is doing in Namimori…” Kusakabe murmured, looking slightly troubled.

“It is likely she is chasing after Reborn-san. She has an infatuation with him and thinks he’s her boyfriend despite all evidence to the contrary. Since he hasn’t outright refuted her claim, she still believes in her delusions.” Gokudera replied bitterly.

“Reborn?” Hibari inquired, looking mostly uninterested.

“A tutor sent by my sperm donor. He is of the same ilk as your Annoying Carnivore.” Tsuna explained, and suddenly Hibari was interested again.

“Oh?” He asked, and Tsuna shared a knowing look with the Demon Prefect. After a moment more of consideration, Hibari turned abruptly and returned to his office, closing the door behind himself. Hayato stared at the other guy’s rudeness, but the other two were used to it.

“Let’s go. If we hurry, I can get a replacement meal and we’ll still have time to eat.” TsunaKo directed, and led the way to the cafeteria. As soon as she entered, a wall of noise and people greeted her. Tsuna’s nose wrinkled. Normally she preferred to eat on the roof, because she wasn’t that fond of people in general. Gokudera, noticing his Sky’s displeasure, immediately put himself between the others and TsunaKo. Tsuna gave him a grateful smile even as she stalked through the room to the lunch line. Thankfully the line was moving quickly, so she had a new (if inferior) lunch fairly quickly.

“I can give you my bento and eat the cafeteria food, Hime.” Hayato immediately offered once he saw what his Sky would have to eat. Tsuna sighed but shook her head.

“Thank you, but no. Kaa-san made that bento especially for you and your needs. I’ll eat this for now.” Tsuna directed. Having said that, she led the way back outside and started to head to the stairs. On the way, they were interrupted by a blur of tan and white which sped past them and then pivoted to a stop in front of the couple.

“Extreeeeeme Hello, Kohais!” the figure, now that he was stopped, was revealed as Sawagawa Ryohei. Tsuna inclined her head politely.

“Sempai.” She greeted.

“I wanted to extremely thank you for assisting my imouto (little sister) this morning! It was extremely extreme of you!” He yelled, and Tsuna winced a little at the loud noise.

“You’re welcome, Sempai.” She returned with a blink.

“You should extremely join my boxing club! We need more extreme members like you!” He cried. Tsuna immediately shook her head ‘no’.

“No thankyou, Sempai. We should extremely go eat now. We don’t have much time before classes.” She added with a grin.

“I extremely understand! I will extremely catch you later!” He announced before turning and running off in a tan and white blur once more.

“Who was that guy?!” Hayato exclaimed in stunned confusion.

“Our Sempai and Sasagawa Kyoko-chan’s Nii-san, Sawagawa Ryohei. His motto is _‘To the EXTREME!’_ and, as you may have noticed, he does everything…. _Extremely_. He also invites pretty much everyone to the boxing club. Even Hibari isn’t exempt, though our local Demon Prefect usually just beats Sasagawa-Sempai up for bothering him. Hardly anyone ever takes him up on it, so feel free to tell him no. He’s used to it.” Tsuna replied with a laugh while they walked. Finally they actually reached the roof and Tsuna was able to eat. She felt a little better after eating and was able to spend the second half of the school day making plans to _deal_ with Falco Bianchi, if necessary.

Then school was finally over and she was headed from the back of the building towards the freedom beyond the school gates when Sasagawa-kun caught up with her and Hayato again.

“Extremely wait for me!” He called as he came sprinting around the back corner of the building. Internally she groaned, but Tsuna obligingly paused her trek. Naturally Hayato stopped with her. Once he reached them, Sasagawa-sempai finally slowed down to a stop.

“Thank you for waiting, to the Extreme!” Sasagawa cheered. Tsuna just inclined her head in acknowledgement. “Now that we have more time, I have extremely come to recruit you to my boxing club!” He announced, and TsunaKo felt like face-palming. Apparently he’d taken her denial earlier as her not having time to listen to his recruitment speech, and not a total rejection of joining. Before she could make her objections clear, her tutor dropped from the trees beside the sidewalk onto her shoulder.

“Sasagawa Ryohei, in his Senior year at Namimori High School, known for his motto of _‘To the Extreme’_ , and possess an astonishing amount of Sun Flames. He is known as a bit of a prodigy with them, and has stayed in Hyper Dying Will Mode since he first started to walk. He would make an excellent Sun Guardian for you.” Reborn, seemingly having tired of the ‘subtle’ route, advertised.

The world exploded in purple.

* * *

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've been experimenting with Skins, so I didn't put the indents in when I posted this chapter...because the skin was supposed to do that for me. Didn't work this time, so I'll keep working on it. Wish me luck! 
> 
> So this post was like, a whole page shorter than I normally do, but it really was the best place to cut it off! Hope to see you next chapter!
> 
> ~Wingzrooke


	7. Consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We see the explosive results from the end of last chapter, and Reborn finally learns there are things he didn't know.
> 
> Edited: added more to end note.

* * *

* * *

Reborn’s day had been faster paced than that of his student. He’d arranged for the Sasagawa boy to hear about TsunaKo’s ‘valient’ defence of the boy’s younger sister, but otherwise left Tsunako to her own devices during the school day. Instead he spent the day going back over all the profiles of possible guardians he’d assembled. To be fair, Tsuna had actually bonded to his first match for her.

Dino was certainly harder to find guardians for, it had taken a whopping _sixteen_ different candidates before the Cavallone gained his first Guardian. The boy hadn’t accepted any of the other matches afterwards, either. To this day Clumsy-Dino had only one Guardian. At least the Cavallone didn’t require a full set of Guardians to officially become ‘The Boss’. Unfortunately it looked like Tsunako might be taking after his older student after all, because since then she’d shot down every other candidate. Even more unfortunately, Vongola (unlike the Cavallogne) wouldn’t even allow someone to become the official heir without a full set of Guardians.

Normally that could be solved by setting up ‘contract Guardians’, people who were paid to be Guardians and perform all of a Guardians duties but without the associated bond. Knowing Tsunako, though, she would not accept such an arrangement. Not even as a stop-gap measure. So now he was going back over profiles and picking out twelve possible candidates for each Guardian position (except for Storm, of course). He was mid-way through picking out another sixteen for Sun Guardian candidate (in case she rejected the Sasagawa boy as well), and gritting his teeth while he forced himself to do it, when a thought struck him.

The other day, when the Bovino brat arrived, he’d felt a flicker of Sun Flame from the boy’s direction. Then the wicks on the boy’s dynamite had ignited. Was it possible the boy had sun flames as well as Storm flames, and Tsunako had bonded to the boy as a Sun Guardian instead? As usual, Reborn felt dissatisfaction at the idea of Tsunako taking another as Sun Guardian. Regardless of who it was. Also like usual, Reborn stuffed the unwelcome, unethical, unprofessional jealousy and… _feelings_ into the tiny box at the back of his head where all other unwanted thoughts and _feelings_ were stored. Then he re-padlocked it.

He pinched the bridge of his nose as a headache started to form. It wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that the girl had taken him as Sun Guardian. Nor was it impossible that she would chose people, like herself, that had multiple flames types. The headache grew sharper as he realized he may have to go back and start over completely on choosing prospective Guardian candidates. Most of the ones he’d chosen, if not all, were single flame-type. The end-of-day bell rang just then, and he decided to pause where he was at in looking over the candidates.

The easiest way to see if his hypothesis might be true was to catch up with TsunaKo and wait for the inevitable confrontation between her and the Sasagawa boy. He hoped it was their first ‘official’ meeting, but wasn’t too worried whether the boy had caught up to her earlier or not. Sasagawa was far too stubborn to be put off by one refusal. Not to mention the way the boy just ‘happened to be in the area’ whenever TsunaKo was in school was any indication, the boy had a bad case of Sky Attraction. Possibly even Sky Infatuation. No, he’d definitely catch up with her after school one way or another.

Quickly Reborn made his way to where his student was, walking down the path next to the school building. Sure enough, the Sasagawa boy showed up not even a minute later, and invited the girl to join his boxing club. Tsunako twitched, looking a little put upon. Before she could reply, Reborn interrupted. He wanted to be sure his student knew Reborn was suggesting the boy, and had arranged for them to have a meeting.

“…He would make an excellent Sun Guardian for you.” Reborn finished saying. The words had to be out, and he knew he didn’t do as good a job of presenting why the boy should be her Guardian as he could have. Still, he got through it. Afterwards, he only had the time to watch absolute fury fill his student’s face before her Cloud flames erupted.

The Sasagawa boy was flung away from them, flying an impressive distance and out of sight. Reborn winced and hoped the boy would be alright. Reborn, himself, was in comparison treated gently. The explosion of flames flung him off of her shoulder and into the trees nearby. His own Sun flames immediately repaired the damage. Aside from the girl herself, Gokudera got off the easiest of any of them. The boy didn’t even look ruffled and still stood in the same spot beside Tsunako. Like a striking snake, the girl turned on him and grabbed him by the collar. She lifted him up by said collar and began to shake him. Barely did he start to wonder what set her off when she began to shout at him as well.

**“I have never been so insulted!”** She snarled.

 **“You don’t get to come here and start courting me, properly even! And then just throw some other, _weaker_ sun at me like a consolation prize! Do you think I give everyone such leeway as I have given you?! You ought to be ashamed of yourself! I won’t have it! You made an offer, and I’m going to hold you to it!!!”** Though her voice was loud and her shouting vicious with anger, it was the tears running down her face that truly upset Reborn. He didn’t have time to wonder what she meant before the Cloud flames raging around them were joined by Sky flames. Feeling the immense weight of an ocean of furious Sky flames pressing down on him, Reborn’s own flames defensively rose up to create a barrier between him and said flames.

This didn’t have the effect he was expecting, however. Instead of creating a barrier, it allowed the Sky flames access to his own flames without having to intrude inside his body. The instant his flames were free of his skin, they _reached_ for the Sky flames as he and they had been longing to do for a long time. The Sky flames, even as furious as Tsunako was, reached back and ensnared his Sun flames. Faster than he would have believed possible, a bond spun into place between them, their flames twisting together like a rope. Then the bond grew in size as more and more of their flames were added. First a rope, then a cable, and then it was the width of Reborn’s chest. As the bond grew, the girl pulled Reborn’s body in until he was cradled against her chest.

“ _Baka._ (Idiot)” she whispered softly, sniffling. Reborn, still in shock, could only murmur tiny apologies back to her over and over while he clung to his new Sky’s shirt. Reborn had a Sky. Tsunako, his student, was _his Sky_. He had a Sky. These thoughts played on repeat in his brain, over-and-over, his genius-brain for once failing him. To be fair, he hadn’t thought he _could_ bond with a Sky since he first was cursed. It had been even longer since he’d believe a Sky strong enough to bond with him even existed.

To top off all that, he’d made his Sky angry and made her cry. It wasn’t the absolute worst thing to happen to brand-new-Guardian, but it was probably close. His new instincts _screamed_ at him for harming his Sky, even emotionally. Perhaps especially because it was emotional hurt? After a few minutes, Gokudera intervened.

“Hime, we should get home quickly. Anyone active flame-user withing two-hundred miles would have felt those two explosions of flame.” The boy urged, and Reborn’s new Guardian instincts immediately went ‘rawr!’ at the idea of anyone coming after his Sky. Nodding, Tsunako tucked Reborn into her arms like a doll and set off at a brisk trot towards her house.

A feeling of amusement brushed up alongside Reborn’s mind. At first he looked up at his Sky, but her mouth was set firmly somewhere between a pout and a frown. Then Gokudera, striding ahead slightly, caught Reborn’s attention. To his disbelief, he realized he was feeling _Gokudera’s_ amusement. Amusement that, after a moment of examining the bond, was directed at Reborn’s own intense feelings of protectiveness. Seemingly feeling Reborn experimenting with their connection, the boy turned half his attention to Reborn.

“You’ll get used to it.” The boy explained. It takes a couple days for the new instincts to settle. I don’t suggest going to far away from Hime, though. If you’re even capable of it. That first day…I’m still not sure how I left her side to get my things. It was torturous.” His words turned Tsunako’s semi-pout into a definite frown.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize.” She whispered, looking down. Reborn observed with his mind’s eye as Gokudera sent reassurance and love back through the bond.

“There’s nothing to be sorry for. I myself didn’t realize it until I was already there. And I was happy to obey your command, Hime.” The boy assured. A look was sent back from Tsunako to Gokudera which said she didn’t quite believe him but was letting the matter go.

“Hime, now that he’s officially part of the family, you should properly induct him and make him aware of your…other information.” The boy added. This intrigued and worried Reborn, the idea that there might be more about Tsunako that he didn’t know.

“Yes, but not until we’re home. We’ll go directly to the lab.” Their Sky directed, then took a detour into an ally. A slight flex of her mist flames and they were invisible to any outsiders. Then she repositioned Reborn until one of her arms was free. Her left arm lifted and she made a small circular motion with her left hand, trailing mist flames behind it. The circle of mist flames flew out in front of her, and she carried Reborn through to what looked like a workshop and lab on the other side. Gokudera followed them and the portal closed behind him.

* * *

Hime set Reborn down on the large steel table in the middle and quickly made a clone of herself. Reborn’s expression was hilarious, and it was only through great willpower that Hayato refrained from laughing. By the hitman’s glare, though, the man still felt Gokudera’s amusement. It was strange to Gokudera, being able to feel the Hitman through their connection to the same Sky. He’d heard whispers of this, but it was supposed to be vanishingly rare. Of course their Sky was extremely strong and her flames unbelievably pure. If anyone could give their guardians a secondary bond between guardians, it would be her.

Once the clone was sent to the main house to let Sawada-san know they’d returned and were in the lab, Hime set Hayato to working on his katas while she gave Reborn the general rundown. She explained about having lived through multiple lifetimes, and her people’s beliefs about bonds. To both TsunaKo and Hayato’s pleasure, the hitman did not reject her or her beliefs at this point.

“Married, huh? Won’t be much different for me, in this form I am too undeveloped for any of the truly _fun_ marital activities.” Reborn commented blandly. “Well, at least I can straight out ask…” Reborn grumbled. “Hime, what type of Guardians would you accept?” He addressed her directly. Hime tipped her head to one side and considered the tiny hitman thoughtfully.

“Strong ones. My life tends to be chaotic and dangerous. My Guardians must be able to withstand this. I also almost never take civilians as my Guardians anymore. Typical civilians just… _don’t get it._ And they almost never take the Mafia and it’s associated dangers seriously. They also need to call to me, at least a little.” She replied with a sigh.

“Dangers?” Reborn demanded sharply. Hime huffed and then explained about _that man_ (her father) and the ninth. After she’d explained about all the attempts on her life, including the seal, Reborn looked thunderous. His dangerous killing intent filled the air, his flames rising and flickering in the need to _do something_.

“I haven’t figured out why on earth they would name me the prospective heir in favor when they keep trying to kill me. Though it hasn’t stopped them from killing the ninth’s children, so who knows….” Tsuna concluded. Before she could continue, Reborn gave them some information of his own.

“You should know…I don’t suffer from a growth defect. I was cursed into this form, and this pacifier I wear eats my flames and lifeforce. Someday soon it will likely kill me.” The words dropped into a cold stony silence.

“Unacceptable. I will come up with a solution. For now, systems of energy and the first ‘welcome to the family’ exam.” Hime declared, and before Reborn could protest, Hime was explaining to him all about magic, and chakra while she pulled up diagrams of his various systems. Hayato had to force himself to paying attention to his kata once more as the clone in charge of helping him whacked him on the forehead with a rolled up newspaper.

“Pay attention!” Hime-clone scolded.

“Hai!(Yes!)” he exclaimed, throwing himself back into action. When he looked back a little while later, just before starting his chakra exercises, Hayato noted Reborn had been given his own ‘welcome kit’ with assorted outfits and weapons. A few moments later Reborn was filling out his own tests, Hime’s glee at being able to test her tutor leaking through their bonds.

When that was done, one of the clones took away the books and conducted Reborn’s first ‘interview’, much like the one Hayato had gone through that first night. At length Reborn came to stand near where Gokudera was working on his chakra control by trying to hold a leaf to his forehead. The exercise was surprisingly hard. He had to use just the right amount of chakra or the leaf would blow off.

“Seriously, Gokudera, _Pay Attention!_ Set a better example for your Kohai!” The clone scolded again, once more whacking him with the newspaper. The stunned silence from both himself and Reborn filled the air with an almost tangible tension for a moment.

 _“That’s right. He’s newer at this than me, even if only by a little bit.”_ Hayato thought. He went back to focusing more fully on the leaf and his chakra, determined to do better.

* * *

To Reborn’s surprise, he was started not with the katas and fighting moves like Gokudera. Instead he was started with finding and activating his chakra.

 **“In a way,”** the Hime-clone which was working with him began. **“it is fortunate that you are in this cursed form.”** Reborn wanted to demand ‘how?!’ it could be fortunate, but the clone continued before he could. **“For you see, if you were your actual age instead of your current physical age, you would not be able to access your chakra. Your pathways would be too set, and it would kill you to attempt this. We wouldn’t even consider it.”** She explained, then proceeded to walk him through the visualization mediation to find and access his chakra for the first time.

Once he’d found it and could pop ‘into’ and ‘out of’ the place where his chakra could be found instantly, the Hime clone used her own chakra to open the basic pathways all over his body. She struck with gentle but quick open-handed strikes with microscopic needle-like protrusions of chakra. Though the places she struck were tiny little access points that technically could open easily, they weren’t normally able to open on their own. They had to be forced a bit. So as she struck, the needle-like protrusions of chakra were forced through the openings of the chakra pathways to reach his the pathways behind them. She struck so quickly that the hits registered all at once in his mind.

Reborn screamed and felt his body convulse once, then twice. Then the pain was gone and it was like the world was clearer for the first time. His eyes perceived everything faster, and his mind felt the chakra naturally, instead of him having to search for it. He could feel the chakra flowing through every single muscle, instinctively he knew how to reinforce those muscles to let him accomplish impossible things. It wasn’t a hard leap to make, after all he did the same thing with Sun Flames all the time. When the newness of the natural chakra enhancement wore off, Reborn turned his attention back to the clone who waited patiently before him.

“The reason we started you on chakra first, is because we have noticed you lack a lot of the energy Suns are infamous for. We believe this comes from your curse eating your flames and lifeforce. We will place a seal, one like a floodgate, between you and the pacifier. This was the pacifier will only be able to take a certain amount of your flames and lifeforce at a time, instead of gorging itself. I can’t remove it completely right this second, but I can restrict it’s access. Then you will be able to use your chakra to make up the difference. It can’t replace your sun-flames but it can be converted to life-energy. You will need to gain excellent control over your chakra, though.” She explained. Reborn nodded his consent and sat still as she reached two glowing fingers towards the pacifier.

The glow was the color of her chakra, mist, and sky flames combined. Her fingers stopped in the air just before the pacifier, not quite touching. Words Reborn didn’t understand poured from her mouth and slipped past his ears. He could hear the rise and fall of her intonation, almost musical, but not distinguish any of the actual words. Slowly a net formed around the pacifier in the same color as the glow from her hand. When he looked closer, Reborn could see the links of the ‘chains’ that made up the net were formed from tiny, ever-changing symbols.

In mere moments she was done, the glow dissipating. All that was left to show his pacifier was now sealed was a tiny circle of symbols on the front of the yellow orb. The difference was immediate. If he hadn’t been expecting it, Reborn was sure he would have fallen over in shock. Suddenly he had 60% of his flames and lifeforce still contained in his body, instead of a measly 10%.

Then she started walking him through the first chakra-control exercise. When, after a few minutes of practice, Reborn complete the ‘leaf exercise’ (which Gokudera still struggled with, days later), the boy’s jealous glances made Reborn feel very smug indeed. Gokudera seemed to have being taken called ‘Sempai’ seriously indeed.

“There’s no need to feel jealous, Haya.” Gokudera’s clone instructor reprimanded gently.

“It’s a trade-off. Those who naturally have excellent chakra control normally have much smaller pools of chakra over all. Both ways are equally hard in their own ways.” Reborn’s own instructor continued.

“Which means that you, Haya, will have to work on refining your control while you, Reborn, will have to work on increasing the size of your chakra core.” The first clone finished. Reborn felt very much less smug after this explanation, and turned his attention to the new control exercise. By the end of the evening Reborn could walk up walls and even perform what the Hime clone called ‘the academy three’ jutsus. The Henge jutsu, or transformation technique, the Bunshin jutsu, or clone technique, and the kawarimi jutsu or replacement technique. He’d memorized all the hand-seals as soon as the clone showed them, his eidetic memory coming in handy. It would take him more practice to reliably get his tiny pudgy hands into the right shapes, however. His clone instructor led him through a few hand exercises to help him ‘limber up’ his hands. Then he was taught a few blocks (he already knew the basic kicks and punches), and given a few kata.

“Very good, you two. We’ll work on this again in the morning.” Clone one instructed before both clones dismissed themselves. Another clone who’d been hovering nearby brought them towels for wiping sweat off, if they desired, bottles of water, and a light healthy snack. They each took their portion from the clone and then went to join Tsunako at the metal table once more. It appeared Hime had been using the time to go over her homework.

“You needn’t bother with that busy work. It’s clear, for the most part, that you do not need regular high school. I was planning to enroll you in online school with an accelerated course and have you test out of high school if possible. Now that I know you’ve lived several lifetimes, it makes sense. Next I’d planned to enroll you in college, as I believe there are several courses of study that will help you in your future position as a boss and future lifetimes. Assuming you haven’t already completed them before, of course.” Reborn directed as he hopped up onto a stool and then the metal table. Immediately Tsunako dropped her pencil and turned her attention back to him.

“I’m already enrolled online, I could have tested out of everything but I didn’t want to seem _too_ much like a genius. I’m really not a genius, after all, it’s just cumulative experience. Plus, being known as a child prodigy would be something that might catch _their_ attention. Following my accelerated schedule, I should graduate by Christmas. Of course I could always test out of the last classes, if you like. Or we could use my current grade point average and submit a mist record to the colleges with my application, making it look like I graduated recently. That way I could start classes whenever.” Hime offered. Reborn tipped his hat to her.

“An excellent idea. Go ahead and create the mist record and I will ensure it looks to the colleges like they came from your online school. Out of curiosity, which online school did you enroll in?”

“Ah, after doing some research, I chose Nada High School, which had the highest-ranking scorers overall and on average.” Her words gained Reborns ‘nod of approval’.

“A small donation, my recommendation and no college should have a problem accepting you. Now, let’s go over courses of study. What have you already studied in college? It would be advantageous to have you double- or even triple-major with those things you’ve already studied so you can get the same degrees quickly.” At his words, the girl fidgeted slightly.

“I’ve never really had the time or need to take college courses so…none? I can still do triple majors or more, if you want, through the use of clones, mist and cloud flames, and my memory palace though.” She admitted shyly, peeking up at him from the corners of her eyes while looking down at her hands twisting anxiously together. “To be honest, in most of my lifetimes it’s been a struggle even to obtain a regular education. Not because I didn’t want it or was unwilling, but because sheeple are awful and I was … _discouraged_ from being able to succeed in any way most of the time.” She added in a grumble.

Internally Reborn raged at the news that people had kept his Sky from being able to learn and grow.

 _“How long had she been forced to be stagnant?”_ he wondered, and then noted his Sky feeling his rage and flinching.

“I am not angry with you, Tesoro (darling/treasure). I am angry with those who have held you back. It is clear from the way you teach that you are a diligent student and you understand what you have been taught. We will have you follow ten different majors to start with, but to avoid drawing attention you will complete them under different pseudonyms. Once you’ve completed your courses of study and those who currently threaten your life are no longer a problem, we will have your name changed in the system and the records joined together.” Reborn explained gently. His Sky sent him a tremulous smile.

“Reborn? Can I minor in something fun? I planned to go to college this lifetime. I wanted to double-major in communication and business, with a double-minor in theater and maybe cooking/baking or music?” She asked tentatively.

“Those sound like excellent ideas, Hime. Except they should all be majors. There’s no point in doing a degree half-way. Especially since you’ve got clones to do all of the work. We will take those five and add mathematics (Tsunako made a face at that idea), geography, politics, art, and economics. We should also have you take the same majors through an Italian college or colleges.” Reborn quickly summed up. Tsunako made a face again but flipped over her math sheet and quickly listed down the majors he’d suggested, and at taking what amounted to twenty different majors. Probably accelerated courses, too, knowing Reborn. He smirked as he read her thoughts on her face and through their bond, and nodded his agreement.

“I think we’ll aim to get you enrolled in Tohoku University, or failing that in Kyoto University. On the Italian side, we’ll aim for both Politechnico di Milano and Bocconi University. Hopefully you will make it into both of those…” He thought aloud.

“Reborn…that’s _a lot_ of schooling. I though you said only two colleges…?” She replied weakly. Reborn just shot her his trademark smirk. “They’re the same degrees, so it shouldn’t be too much trouble.” He answered easily. She scowled at him.

“Hey, sorry to interrupt, but I’ve been wondering. What do you plan to do about Bianchi, Hime?” Gokudera asked. Suddenly it hit Reborn what he’d forgotten: to set up another false trail and distraction for the Poison Scorpion.

“She attacked you?!” Reborn demanded, and his Sky just shrugged. Shrugged! At him!

“She tried. Twice. Neither was successful. Both have been handed over to the Disciplinary Committee as evidence, which means the police have started a file on her. As for my plans for her….that depends. How attached are you to your sister, Hayato? And don’t obfuscate. If she is important to you at all, tell me now.” Tsunako demanded. Gokudera met their Sky’s eyes squarely.

“She poisoned me for years, nearly killed me on many occasions. I hate her. I’ve often wished her dead, even thought about killing her myself a few times. But…she’s still family. Besides, if she dies the Falco Famiglia will try to make me their heir and eventually Boss.” He explained passionately at first, but despairing at the end. Tsunako turned to Reborn once she was sure her first Guardian was finished speaking.

“Haya indicated to me that although Falco believes she is in a relationship with you, it’s all in her head. Reborn, are you currently or have you ever been in a relationship with her?”

“No, and never. I simply haven’t corrected her before because the Poison Scorpion has a tendency to kill anyone that ends her relationship fantasies. Although I could have easily killed her and saved myself some trouble, the Falco Famiglia is a member of the Vongola alliance, whom I frequently took jobs from, so I elected to ignore her and set up distractions for her instead.” Reborn wrinkled his nose at the thought of that girl.

“Very well, then this is what we shall do. I refuse to share, as I stated before. Reborn: as your first official directive from me, as your Sky, I order you to official reject that woman’s advances and end her fantasy. If you can accomplish this without harming her, I would appreciate it. This should end her attempts on my life, since she’s likely seeking to take out the competition, as it were. If she tries to kill you, you are authorized to use deadly force. Haya, we will spare her if we can. For you. But I won’t sacrifice one of My Own for someone who has so grievously harmed another of My Own.” Tsunako decreed, eyes burning with her Sky flames and a crown of Sky flames circling her brow. Both Reborn and Gokudera bowed deeply to her.

“Hai, Hime.” They both replied. Reborn was pleased to note how touched Gokudera looked at the effort their Sky put into finding a solution to the boy’s feelings. It was overly generous, compared to most Bosses. That didn’t make it a bad thing, though. Having a Sky who was willing to spare the life of someone who’d tried to kill said Sky simply because they had a tiny link to one of their Guardians was a rare and precious thing indeed. Reborn knew if such a situation came up for himself, his Sky would likewise try to make Reborn happy as well.

* * *

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I know it seems like Tsunako is going to be taking on WAY to many degrees/schools/courses, but keep in mind in the Naruto series Naruto could make hundreds of clones, if not more. Since Tsunako has lived (at least) two lifetimes as Naruko (Fem!Naruto), and she carries her gifts/talents/etc with her from life to life regardless of logical things like DNA, etc., Tsunako has all the chakra pool/core of Naruko, despite not having a Bijuu in her gut. So I'm going off the assumption TsunaKo can make AT LEAST five clones per class per school per day. If not more. Plus still have clones to do all the things she uses them for (like messengers, etc). 
> 
> I did just a tiny bit of research into Universities in Japan and Italy for this chapter, and kind of ended up picking the four I did off of a few 'top schools of (Italy/Japan)' lists.
> 
> I hope this chapter was everything you were hoping for! ;) To be honest I had the scene where they bonded in mind long before I actually started writing this fic, so I'm pretty excited to have it finally published to the story! :D
> 
> ~Wingzrooke


	8. A double-misunderstanding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ri and Fon both jump to conclusions, and the family takes an unexpected trip. Reborn is not amused.

* * *

* * *

Once his troublesome student is finally asleep, Reborn checks on his ‘sempai’. The boy is busy making explosives. Probably trying to vent, uneasy with the knowledge his sister is in town. Reborn goes down to the kitchen and makes himself a cup of tea while he plots. To be honest, he’s inclined to just kill Falco and eliminate the threat to his Sky. But he has the feeling that even if Gokudera didn’t suspect he was lying, Tsunako would. And she would not be pleased with him disobeying his very first directive from her. So he probably would have to at least try to speak with Bianchi sensibly.

In the meantime, he was going to have to call off all his original plans, because his Sky was _nothing_ like he’d thought when coming here. For one thing, the cow brat was not even going to tempt the girl. Regardless of how he’d been introduced, the kid just wasn’t strong enough to interest Reborn’s Sky. Not only that, but he behaved like a brat much younger than he actually was. Needless to say, Tsunako hadn’t been impressed. So far the five year old had been given to Nana, who’d taken to raising the child. Tsunako didn’t have any more contact with the child other than at mealtimes. Said contact was pretty much limited to sitting at the same table. That was fine with Reborn. It was one thing to have his student bond with such a child. It was another entirely for _Reborn’s Sky_ to have to deal with a headache like that. Not to mention that if his Sky did bond with the brat, Reborn would have to share a Sky with him. No, absolutely not. Speaking of which…

Reborn quickly pulled out his phone and texted the Mist twins his Sky’s father had arranged to be the first candidates for her to meet. The thought of candidates made Reborn pause. Anyone his Sky bonded with, he’d have to work with. His Sky only accepted strong guardians, and seemed to prefer Guardians older than herself so far. If the way she hadn’t even considered the cow brat a viable option was a clue. Quickly he sent off the text to the Mists, then pulled up his texts with Fon.

* * *

**Fon**

World’sGreatest:

Fon, plan for I-pin is off. Meet at new student’s house ASAP.

Sent 11:00pm

Tea-drinking-heathen:

Reborn, what happened? 

Sent 11:02pm 

Is everything alright? 

Sent 12:00am 

Reborn? 

Sent 6:00am 

… 

This had better not be another one of your jokes, 

Reborn. 

Sent 8:00am 

… 

I’m coming. 

Sent 10:00am 

* * *

After sending off his message to Fon, Reborn crawled into his hammock to sleep. Despite his new energy and reserves, or perhaps because of them, Reborn was a lot more tired than he’d expected. He’d worked harder and longer that afternoon/evening than he had in a long time. So it shouldn’t really have surprised him that he fell asleep as soon as he laid down. He didn’t wake up until noon the next day, and even then he only woke up to Tsunako scooping him and the Leon-hammock up with one arm and booking it from the room.

He wondered what she was so excited about, but his Sky was warm and welcoming and his tiny body was still exhausted, so he fell back asleep with a soft:

“Go back to sleep, Reborn. I’ve got you.” From his Sky.

* * *

The next time Reborn woke, it was to find himself tossing back and forth like he was on a ship. And his Sky wasn’t nearby. At least, not in the room. Instantly Reborn snapped to full alertness. To his relief, Leon was spread over him in blanket form so he _probably_ wasn’t captured by enemies. The next thing he noticed was the very ships-cabin-like room he currently found himself in, complete with a lip at the edge of the bed to help keep sleeping people from falling off. He searched the room and found five sets of luggage. There was a vague memory of his Sky picking Reborn and Leon up earlier, though it was fuzzy from exhaustion. He pulled his hat down over his eyes in frustration. What had Tsunako pulled him into?

Someone must have felt Reborn wake up, because a moment later he felt Gokudera approaching. Sure enough the boy opened the door and poked his head in. He smiled bemusedly at the Sun Guardian.

“Good evening, Reborn! You’re just in time for dinner. Hime, Sawada-san, and the cow brat are already there but Hime sent me back to check on you and see if you would wake up for dinner.” Gokudera explained, looking expectantly at the hitman. Entirely unamused, Reborn leveled a flat glare on the Storm.

“Where. Are. We.” He demanded flatly. Gokudera rubbed the back of his head a little sheepishly.

“Ah, you didn’t know? I assumed Hime told you before we left. She did say you were exhausted, though…” the boy murmured, and Reborn barely resisted the urge to draw his gun. “Anyways, we’re almost to Mafia Land.” He added, and Reborn just sort of stared at him. After a very long moment where Reborn stared at the boy and the boy just stared back, puzzled, Reborn huffed and hoped from the bed to the boy’s shoulder. Chakra-assisted jumps were the best. He cleared the entire cabin, basically, and still made it to the shoulder he’d aimed for. He’d grabbed the ‘blanket’ as he left the bed, and Leon transformed back into his chameleon-self as they went.

To his pleasure, the teen didn’t even seem to mind carting Reborn around (most likely because they shared a Sky). They quickly made their way to the dining room and then joined their Sky, her mother, and her mother’s ward at a lavish table.

“I took the liberty of ordering for you both, since I could feel you coming. Feel free to order something else if you don’t like it, though.” Tsunako informed them as they sat.

“I’m sure the food will be fine.” Reborn answered calmly. “Why are we going to Mafia Land? I assume this isn’t a planned trip.” He added menacingly. His Sky waved his words aside.

“It wasn’t planned. I would have told you if we were planning to go to Mafia Land. Sometime in the early hours of the morning an extremely large, very angry, very hostile flame entered Namimori and started heading for our home. I can only assume the Ninth and/or _that man_ sent whoever it was after us, so I made the call to take a trip until whoever it is goes away. If they’re smart, they’ll leave. If not, then we’ll deal with them once we get back.” She explained while cutting her steak into little pieces. Reborn pulled his hat down over his eyes. That…was not what he had been expecting. Plates of food were set before Reborn and Gokudera while Reborn surreptitiously pulled out his phone.

He felt slightly embarrassed when he read back over the messages Fon had sent. He hadn’t actually meant for the Storm to worry… oh well. At least the man would have time to cool off before Reborn had to face him. He just hoped there’d still be a house standing when they got back. The Hime wasn’t likely to take to Fon if the man destroyed her house, after all. He’d better respond to the Storm before the man tore apart Namimori searching for him. Or worse, got his Cloudy Nephew involved….

* * *

**Fon**

World’sGreatest:

I apologize, Fon. I was asleep and just got your texts now.

No need to hurry anymore, change of plans.

Sent 5:00 p.m.

Tea-drinking-heathen:

You were asleep for eighteen hours? 

Sent 5:01 p.m. 

World’sGreatest:

Yes.

It’s a long story.

Sent 5:10 p.m.

Tea-drinking-heathen:

… 

… 

An Eighteen hours long story. 

Sent 5:10 p.m.

World’sGreatest:

I'll explain when I see you.

For now, feel free to use the Vongola Guest-house I had set up.

It’s in the South-East Quarter, near the town center.

Here is a [**map**](https://www.deviantart.com/wingzrooke/art/Namimori-Reborns-Map-for-Fon-852726278).

Sent 5:20 p.m.

* * *

Fon stared down at the so-called “map” a little incredulously. This looked like it was drawn in crayon…badly. Not to mention it didn’t give an actual address. Nor did Reborn mention where he could find a Key….well, it’s not like it was actually a problem. If Reborn didn’t take too long, Fon could always stay with his sister’s family. With a weary sigh, the Storm began the trek to his sister’s house in the foothills. At least it would be quiet there.

* * *

Tsunako rolls out of bed in time to avoid a pair of paddles and Reborn electrocuting her. At least they’re at a hotel and not on a ship still. The non-rocking floor is easier to land on and keep her balance when still half-asleep. She gives him an unimpressed look while she stands up and brushers off her knees. The tiny hitman doesn’t react to Tsunako’s _look_ , so she makes her protest verbal.

“You know, I let _you_ sleep in when you were tired.” She grumbled while standing up and grabbing her clothing for the day. Reborn sniffs unapologetically and tucks away the paddles.

“Yes, and you shouldn’t have.” He retorts. Tsunako just rolls her eyes. “Be sure to dress in flexible clothing. I want you to try out Mafia Land’s infamous obstacle course. Gokudera should try it as well.” Reborn adds. Tsunako huffs at him and goes to shower and change. She assumes Reborn is going to tell Gokudera, but makes a note to make sure her five-flame Guardian is dressed appropriately before they leave the house.

They’d gotten three separate rooms, because there were only two beds in each. Except Tsunako’s, which had one large Emperor-sized bed. Her room was also amber-colored, so likely it was specifically reserved for Skies.

Her silly storm had been completely ready to sleep either at her feet or on the floor. Which…both pleased her cloud side and also distressed her Sky-side. Ko, naturally, had been pleased and amused. Tsuna insisted Gokudera take the second room, which was set up much like her Kaa-san’s room. His room was in between Tsuna’s and her Kaa-san’s, and his room also had a door that connected the Sky and Her Guardian, which somewhat eased both their minds. Thus Tsuna had a barrier between herself and the bratty cow child.

Thankfully her Kaa-san had insisted on sharing with the tiny menace. Her Kaa-san seemed to enjoy having a tiny human to look after. Tsuna herself had always been too mature and independent to need much looking after.

Thinking about her mother’s delight in taking charge of the cow-brat made Tsuna think she should buy an orphanage or something for her mother. Of course her mother wouldn’t be able to run it on her own, due to what _that man_ did to her…but she would no doubt be overjoyed to help take care of so many children. She would have Gokudera look into it.

Much like everything else in her suite, the bathroom was huge and unnecessarily extravagant. It also somewhat resembled her new bathroom at home. Tsuna rather suspected she knew where Reborn had taken his inspiration from. The walls were an amber-colored tile (and seriously, did they have to color everything in this suite Amber?!), the floor a neutral white tile.

There was a large tub sunk into the floor, which looked like it could also become a jacuzzi tub or a hot tub with a press of one of the many buttons on the wall next to the tub. There was also a very-large standing shower with a bench around the three walls and multiple showerheads, some of which were handheld. There was a full walk-in closet that opened both to the bathroom and the bedroom.

Tsunako didn’t take long in the bathroom. No point in getting all dressed up if Reborn was going to have her running an obstacle course and working out or something. He seemed to be in the mood for a little chaos today, if the AED and Defibrillator pads were any indication. Her mood soured a little at the thought of the shocking he’d planned to give her.

Normally a Guardian wouldn’t even _contemplate_ something like that. Reborn must truly be upset with her for not waking him up. She didn’t see what the big deal was. It wasn’t like she was leaving him out on purpose, she’d meant to tell him but he’d been so strangely exhausted that she’d just told him to go back to sleep. Tsuna’s intention had been to help him! Nor had she left him behind or alone. Ugh.

Finally she gathered with the others in the hallway just outside her room. Thankfully Gokudera seemed to have gotten the message, because he was wearing some of the more flexible clothing she’d given him. As she joined them, Reborn was in the process of telling Kaa-san about taking the two teens to try out the local obstacle course.

“Gokudera-san and TsunaKo will probably enjoy the obstacle course, but little Lambo is probably still too young for such a thing. I will take him to enjoy the rest of the theme park.” Kaa-san decided, to Lambo’s delight.

“Lambo is going to ride _all_ the rides and eat _all_ the candy!” The kid declared. Tsunako resolutely ignored him. She had no particular attachment to the child, and no strong feelings about his statement.

“That’s the spirit, Lambo-kun!” Her mother cheered, leaving the rest of them to head towards the outside. Reborn gestured for Tsuna and Gokudera to wait. The three of them stood there quietly until her Kaa-san and Lambo were out of sight and earshot.

“Her Reborn, isn’t the guy who runs the obstacle course like you?” Gokudera asked idly. Reborn nodded curtly.

“He is. I would like Tsunako to meet him.” Reborn agreed. “He’s a rain, and he meets all of your requirements thus far, Tsunako. He’s strong, able to withstand even my level of chaos, and I believe he will call to you like I do. The only sticky point is that he does have a girlfriend, but … she doesn’t treat him well and isn’t a Sky either. I believe he is on the brink of breaking up with her anyways, if the latest reports of her cheating on him are any indication.” Reborn added. Tsunako inclined her head.

“I will consider it.” Tsuna agreed mildly, and Reborn bowed to her. Tsuna offered her arm, and Reborn jumped up to stand on it. Then Tsuna lifted him up to stand on her shoulder. Once he was settled, and his feet gripping her shoulder with chakra for practice, Tsuna set off down the hallway with Hayato at her right shoulder.

“What can you tell me about him, Haya?” She asked, curious. Having his Sky’s attention and a duty to fulfill, Hayato straightened up and did his best to answer.

“The man in question is known as Collonello, and a former member of COMSUBIN. He trained under another rain, Lal Mirch, who is currently his girlfriend as far as I know. She also works for _that man_ in CEDEF. It’s common knowledge that they’ve been an on-again off-again couple since before they became known to the Mafia at large. Her bad treatment of the man is also well-known. They say he’s a hopeless romantic, though, so he hasn’t seriously moved on yet. He’s also the Rain Arcobaleno like Reborn is the Sun Arcobaleno, the cursed members of I Prescelti Sette, the strongest seven.” He rattled off. Tsuna made a questioning noise, and Reborn spoke up.

“That is correct. He also runs security for Mafia Land, and allows people to go through the obstacle course on certain days. Colonello considers us rivals, and we often compete in challenges against each other. He’s the World’s Best Sniper, though he’s nothing exceptional with regular hand guns.” The summaries make Tsuna tilt her head back thoughtfully.

“A rain, huh?” She murmured thoughtfully. Reborn and Gokudera were quiet on the rest of the trek there, only stopping long enough for Gokudera to procure a flat of water bottles for the lot of them from a local store at Tsuna’s direction. Once he returned, using his chakra to reinforce his muscles so he could carry the flat with one hand, they continued on their way.

* * *

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Fon. I feel like he's sitting there going:
> 
> "Reborn. I know you're a troll. Reborn. You know you're a troll. Reborn. Seriously, everyone knows you're a troll." Then, after lack of response:
> 
> "Reborn, what's wrong? Reborn, where are you?! I'm coming to save you." "Reborn, you're either in trouble, or you're going to be." 
> 
> After Reborn finally replies:
> 
> "Reborn, why are you like this?" "Reborn, I'm a nice, POLITE STORM. Why must you do this to me? I'm going to be all calm and nice until I see you, and then I'm going to kick your butt." Except there may have been more swearing involved. And also threats about getting Fon's nephew involved. Will Fon every actually get the story of what happens...maybe. ;) 
> 
> As always, hope you've enjoyed.
> 
> Until next time:
> 
> ~ Wingzrooke


	9. Ch 9: Enter a rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tsuna meets Colonello, the rain Arcobaleno and master of the obstacle course. She also gains a fan club of admires, although she doesn't realize it. And beach fun is had by all, except for the security team. Poor peons. ;)

* * *

* * *

It should be stated, for the record, that Colonello did not expect much of Reborn’s student. At least not when it came to running Colonello’s obstacle course. That obstacle course was his baby. He constantly upgraded it, making it ever-harder. Reborn’s students on the other hand…were what their colleague Verde might call a ‘basic, mass-produced, store-quality model’. At least when he first got them. The poor Cavallone kid still couldn’t even walk a straight line on flat pavement without falling down if his men weren’t nearby. This accomplishment was only achieved after a year or two under Reborn’s guidance. Poor sap.

From the rumors Colonello had heard, the new student was supposed to be even worse. Plus Reborn had only been tutoring the kid for, what, a month at most? Colonello felt pretty sure they’d end up hauling the poor kid to medical, anyways. Unless they already had a Sun Guardian.

Of course, Colonello also hadn’t expected Reborn to drag his newest student to Mafia Land until he’d had a chance to work on her for at least a couple more months. To his shock, Colonello would soon find himself wrong on both counts.

“Colonello. Come meet my newest student.” Reborn called early that morning. Unsuspecting, Colonello marched over to inspect the two kids standing with Reborn. The boy was obviously Smokin’ Bomb Hayato. Shamal had made the kid run the obstacle course a time or two, so Colonello already recognized him. The girl, then, must be the new student. If Colonello squinted and turned his head a little, she _might_ look somewhat like a Vongola. Colonello thought she probably took more after her mother, though. Lucky for her. The girl looked amused by his blatant inspection of her.

“It’s nice to meet you, Colonello-san.” The girl greeted quietly, inclining her head slightly towards him.

“That’s what everyone says. Before they run the course, kora.” Colonello scoffed. The girl didn’t seem offended by this, to his surprise.

“Actually, I’ve been looking forward to it. Reborn assures me it’s the most difficult obstacle course anywhere.” She denies, semi-politely.

“Don’t worry about that course, Hime! You’ll ace that thing!” Smokin’ Bomb cries energetically. Colonello kind of wonders what Reborn’s done to the boy, because last time Colonello met him Smokin’ Bomb was sullen and angry. Smokin’ Bomb also tended to look down on civilians and those recently departed from civilian status. Now he seemed to have taken up cheerleading for a recently-civilian girl.

“Go stand on the white line. You can start when the gun goes off.” Colonello instructed. The girl eyed Colonello for the order for a moment, then sauntered over to the line in question. Colenllo pulled out his controller. It was tempting to start the obstacle course on level three, since the duo seemed to think _his_ obstacle course would be too easy. Unfortunately, there were guidelines. And she had been a civilian only a short time ago. So he twisted the knob until it got to level one. All the really fun parts of the obstacle course, like the shark, the live ammunition, and the surprise traps deactivated for this run. Mentally he pouted a little, but still he pushed the ‘start’ button. Immediately a gun shot a bullet into the ground nearby. Only idiots fired live ammunition into the air without a target to stop it, and Colonello wasn’t using a pansy fake-gun that just let off noise to tell the person to start.

As soon as the bullet left the gun, the girl was speeding through his course. He watched, a little in awe, as she elegantly overcame each and every obstacle, including the rotating bars one had to crawl upside-down along, the clear glass she had to make her way across while hanging from her fingertips, and the hanging-jumps.

He hated to even think it, but her form and technique were even better than Lal’s! Her time also beat Lal’s. Colonello winced a little at the thought that Lal might find out someone beat her time. Even Reborn and Fon had never beat Lal’s records. All that, plus she’d done it without flames. Some mafioso couldn’t even complete the first-level course _with_ flames.

“Pretty good, kora.” Colonello admitted as the girl reached the group once more. “Ready for level two?” He challenged. The girl smiled down at him, hearts and sparkles appearing around her.

“You mean there’s _more?!_ ” She exclaimed happily. More sparkles appeared. A little dazed by the blast of Sky-attraction and sparkles, Colonello squinted at the girl. Was she a Mist? He thought Reborn was training a Sky…

“Of course there is. That was just the beginners’ course. Rules state everyone has to start at the bottom the first time at the course.” Colonello replied with a sniff. He was rather surprised when Reborn didn’t add anything, just watched Colonello and the girl interact.

“Go Hime! Kick that course’s trash!” Gokudera cheered. Colonello felt one eyebrow slowly rising while Reborn facepalmed.

“What did you do to that kid, kora?” Colonello whispered to Reborn. Reborn lowered his hand and looked back at Colonello.

“I gave him a Sky. Apparently his ‘Guardian Mode’ is set to cheerleader and minion.” The Sun replied dryly. Gokudera didn’t seem to hear them, but the girl gave them a _look_.

“Be nice, Reborn.” She scolded. Colonello’s other eyebrow joined his first. Having said her piece, the girl pranced back to the starting line for round and level two. Obligingly Colonello twisted the dial to ‘two’, and the size of the obstacle course doubled. It also gained a few ‘wild animal’ hazards, a ‘jello pool’ that needed to be walked over, and a few obstacles that needed flames to be crossed through (or over, or under) successfully. Once the girl started, Colonello turned back to the conversation.

“I’m surprised you let her talk to you like that, Kora.” He remarked. Reborn chuckled.

“I’ll have you know I have the utmost respect for my Sky. I follow her commands gladly.” The Sun (apparently Sun _Guardian_ …..?!) replied smoothly right as Colonello took a sip from his water bottle. Of course Colonello choked, probably just as Reborn intended. Colonello glared at Reborn as the rain wiped water off his face and shirt.

“Your Sky.” Colonello could probably be excused for his disbelieving tones. No Sky had ever been strong enough to even _tempt_ one of the Arcobaleno before. But the Sun just smiled darkly.

“Yes. My Sky. And a very interesting Sky, as well.” Reborn agreed.

Then they didn’t have time to talk amongst themselves anymore, because somehow the girl had completed the course without trouble. Again. Somehow. Without a pause, Colonello redirected her to the course and kicked it up to level three. Finally the live ammunition round! It wasn’t really fun unless there were bullets and explosions, if you asked Colonello. Again the girl completed his course. Easily. Normally at this point Colonello would have congratulated her on passing the course and send her on her way. But this was _Reborn’s Sky_. Colonello wanted to test her. See how good she really was, and if the girl was worthy of being an Arcobaleno’s Sky. So he sent her back to try level four.

The entire afternoon and evening was spent in this manner, and the little Vongola Heiress actually made it to level twenty (the highest level), and beat the entire course! Colonello was both impressed and a little miffed. He’d gotten Verde’s help for the last five levels, and twenty was supposed to be unbeatable! Actually, he’d never had someone get passed level six before. Not even Lal. While the girl was wiping down with a towel Smokin’ Bomb provided her, and the boy was gushing praise all over her, Colonello looked at Reborn from the corner of his eyes.

“I take it she only has two Guardians?” He asked faux-casually. Reborn looked unbearable smug.

“Yes. Just the boy and I, currently.”

“And what would one have to do to be considered for Guardianship of your Sky, Kora?” The Sun looked on the edge of laughing, and Colonello actually had to work at it to keep from striking at the arrogant Hitman. He had a feeling any aggressive gesture at Reborn would not end well for his chances at becoming a Guardian.

“Well, for one you’d be better off asking my Sky. She makes all final decisions about Guardianship.” Reborn drawled, and Colonello nodded. A Sky always had last say in whether someone became their Guardian or not.

“Poor Fon. He won’t even get a chance to ask. Since she’s already got a Storm Guardian.” Colonello remarked, and Reborn nodded.

“I don’t have a Storm Guardian.” The girl denied, apparently having rejoined the group while Reborn and Colonello were talking. Both Arcobaleno winced and braced themselves for the temper of the infamously ‘explosive’ Smokin’ Bomb. To their surprise, it didn’t come. The boy didn’t seem upset in the least, just nodding.

“Tsunako, I can feel your bond to him. What flame did you bond to, if not Storm?” Reborn pointed out. The girl just smiled.

“All of them.” She grinned, but her smile was more a bearing of teeth than an actual show of good feeling. “He’s my five-flamed Guardian.” She informed the two men with pride, and at her words the boy puffed up and looked very proud of himself as well. Colonello felt his eyebrows raising in disbelief.

“Just how many flames does the kid have, Kora?”

“Oh, all of them except for Mist and Sky.” She replied nonchalantly. Her eyes laughed at Colonello’s gaping expression. No wonder the kid was a powder-keg, with so many conflicting flame-types!

“So you will be seeking a Storm Guardian as well, then, Hime?” Reborn inquired. The girl nodded.

“Yes. Gokudera is my right-hand and five-flame Guardian, but I’ll still need someone to hold the regular Storm position.” She shrugged.

“So, Reborn informs me you are still seeking a Rain Guardian.” Colonello remarks faux-casually. The girl eyes him, but doesn’t comment on his lack of subtlety. Which is just as well. He may be the actual Rain _Arcobaleno_ , but he wasn’t the one chose for the position originally. He had to be quick and upfront if he wanted to get himself a Sky before the girl met Lal Mirch.

“I am. You need not worry, you come with Reborn’s recommendation. I am willing to _consider_ you. He’s also sufficiently talked _down_ Lal Mirch. Well, him and Gokudera. Not that I’m interested in female guardians…”The girl agrees. Colonello startled at her words and slides a sideway inquisitive look at Reborn. Honestly, Colonello would have thought Reborn would have preferred to share a Sky with Lal over Colonello. Reborn just shakes his head.

“I know my Sky well enough to know she would never get along with Mirch. We didn’t talk her down so much as tell the truth. Hime has no interest in anyone who would betray their significant other like Mirch does to you. Not to mention Mirch works with Sawada-senior. Either one would strike Mirch from the list of candidates, but both together…? I hope for her own sake that Mirch does not attempt to speak with my Sky. Ever.” Reborn offers dryly.

“Reborn, you made it seem like Mirch was sleeping around on Colonello. Which, you know, she’s been shrunk down to the same form and age as you two, so I highly doubt she is.” The Vongola Heiress interrupts dryly. Reborn waved her words away.

“She might as well be, going on dates with different men and letting them buy her expensive gifts. Letting them use her as their date to big Mafia occasions, despite also publicly being in a relationship with Colonello. She’s making a mockery of him and she doesn’t even care. It’s not malicious in nature, as far as I can tell. She’s just full of herself like that. And she _did_ sleep around on him, before the curse. If the curse was lifted right now, she’d probably start sleeping around on him again.” Reborn scoffed. The girl tilted her head thoughtfully, then shrugged.

“That explains why she gets along with my sperm donor so well, then. She’s just like him, except stronger and a Rain instead of a useless Sky.” The youngest Sawada replies with a snap of her fingers and an ‘aha!’ expression on her face. Then she frowned as her stomach growled.

“But let’s leave behind thoughts about those two. It’s time for something much more important.” The girl declares. Gokudera grins and speaks in sync with her:

“Dinner!” Reborn and the Sky allow Colonello to lead them to a restaurant, leaving the choice up to him. Naturally, Colonello takes them to his favorite food place on the island: the food court. Something for everyone all in “one” place.

* * *

Upon waking the next morning, Tsunako was surprised to be awoken with breakfast in bed, ‘complimentary’ according to the person delivering. The fact that the man wore the uniform of Island security and not the hotel staff’s uniform made it fairly obvious who sent the meal. Amused, Tsuna allowed the man to bring the cart overflowing with food into the room. From his hammock, Reborn watched the man suspiciously. The security man didn’t even seem to notice Reborn up by the ceiling. Once her food was all there, Tsuna used the phone to inform Gokudera and her mother that there was breakfast available in Tsuna’s suite.

As soon as she’d hung up, Tsuna served herself a plate. By the time the others arrived, Tsuna was on her third plate. Reborn was silently laughing at her, she was sure.

“Hungry much?” Reborn drawled, proving Tsuna right. She made a face at the tiny Hitman because she could.

“Yes. I used up a lot of energy yesterday.” She huffed. “Besides, a courting element has sent me food. I should try some of everything. And I’m pretty sure he sent every available breakfast food on the island.” Tsuna considered the cart for a moment. “And maybe some foods that _aren’t_ available on the island.” She amended. Reborn laughed at her.

Nevertheless, Tsuna was determined. Her third plate was her last, though. Because growing teenager with the stomach of a flame-active person or not, there were still limits. When everyone was finished, Nana and Lambo returned to their room to get ready to go to the park again. Tsuna and Gokudera also went to get ready while Reborn kept watch in Tsuna’s room.

When Tsuna came back out, fully dressed, she found Colonello had joined Reborn in waiting for her. Now that she was out, Reborn took his turn in the bathroom. Gokudera joined her a moment later, as though he could sense she’d been unattended for a moment.

“Good morning, Colonello-san.” She greeted quietly.

“Good morning, Sawada-chan.” He returned. “I wanted to see if you would be interested in going to the beach today? I have a set of high-powered jet skis I thought you might enjoy trying out.” Colonello offered. Naturally, at the mention of her being allowed to drive high-speed vehicles, Tsuna lit up.

“I’d _love_ to!” She exclaimed. Moments later Reborn exited the bathroom. “Let me just change into something appropriate for the beach. You too, Gokudera, Reborn.” Tsuna directed. The three of them dispersed, Reborn choosing to change in the main room while Tsuna used the bathroom. The others were back before Tsuna, but she wasn’t surprised. None of them had quite as much hair to wrangle into some sort of holder before attempting water sports. She’d chosen a braid, on the basis that it would stay in better than a regular old ponytail when it came to dealing with water.

She was pleased with their reactions when she finally emerged, especially Gokudera’s. Of course they couldn’t see her swim suit, as she was wearing a very pretty sundress. The main part of the sundress was white, with a heart-shaped neckline that led into a halter. The bottom of the dress had an asymmetrical hem. There was a high point above her left leg, With both sides of the ‘slit’ leading down to one length in the back. The bottom hem was also edged in a white ruffled fabric. Just above the hem, in honor of the Rain courting her, were various blue dabs of color and outlines of flowers. She’d been tempted to wear her ‘sea monster’ sundress, the one with a black top which turned into ‘tentacles’ further down in the dress’ pattern with a purple bottom, but she wasn’t sure Colonello was read for that sort of awesomeness yet. Gokudera would love it, she thought.

The three men all complimented her pretty appearance, and Reborn provided Tsuna with a broad-rimmed White floppy hat to go with her sun dress. Tsuna picked out a blue ribbon from her hair supplies and tied it around the hat. Gokudera flushed a little every time he saw her, and Colonello seemed pleased Tsuna chose to wear ‘his color’ today.

Tsuna considered it a success, all things considered. Gokudera was wearing board shorts and a relaxed vacation-style shirt he’d left unbuttoned. The shirt was black with white skulls in various places all over it. It also matched his black shorts with silver accents. Gokudera was also wearing flip flops. Tsuna approved. Especially the view of his lightly muscled chest, which left her blushing. Colonello and Reborn traded amused looks when they caught both teens blushing, but Tsuna valiantly ignored the looks. She was a teenager, she was allowed to have hormones!

Reborn was wearing an old-fashioned bathing suit, complete with red-and-white stripes and a silly rubber head-covering covered in bright yellow flowers. He also sported a green ‘inner tube’ around his waist which Tsuna suspected to be Leon. As she had that thought the painted ‘eyes’ of the inner tube, which looked like a stylized inflatable chameleon tube, looked at her and one of them winked. 

She also noted that Colonello was wearing black board shorts with deep blue accents on the sides. On top he wore a solid blue button-down shirt, left open like Gokudera’s. Unlike Gokudera, however, Colonello had a blue tank-top underneath. He was also wearing a blue bandana for the occasion, instead of his normal green or camo bandanas. She looked to Colonello expectantly, since it seemed they were all ready.

“Would you prefer to use the security team’s private beach, or the more public one?” Colonello asked.

“Normally I would prefer the private one, but let’s go to the public one today.” Tsuna decided. She was so excited about her first beach-visit that she didn’t even mind that a public beach meant there would be other people present. She wanted the ‘real experience’ at least once. Little did she know how choosing the public beach would move Reborn’s plans along. To be fair, neither did Reborn.

* * *

So far Tsuna had really been enjoying the beach! Colonello had posted a security team around a small area. Likely he’d posted them either extremely early in the morning, or assigned them the night before. The team surrounded a small movable shade shelter big enough for a party of twenty. Beneath that there were various beach-chairs and hammocks, as well as blankets and towels spread out. To one side there were various coolers, and Tsuna would be willing to bet there were all sorts of foods in there.

There was scuba and snorkeling equipment, as well as paraphernalia for both beach and water games. Everything from buckets and shovels for sandcastles to water polo balls and diving rings. Reborn immediately took up residence on one of the chairs, pulling up his phone and looking like he was ready to stay put for a while. Gokudera flopped down on one of the blankets, shedding his shirt and laying on his back ready to tan.

“You mentioned jet skies?” Tsuna asked excitedly. Colonello laughed, delighted at her exuberance.

“I did, this way, Hime.” He directed.

“You know, you can call me Tsuna. If you want.” Tsuna offered, laughing a little. Colonello shrugged.

“I didn’t want to presume. Reborn told me you’re from Japan and I know it’s considered rude to call someone by their first name there unless a person offers.” Colonello admits. Tsuna smiles at him for his thoughtfulness. It was one of her special “sky smiles”, and he looked a little dazed when Tsuna turned her attention back to the beach before them.

Sure enough, when they reached the waters edge, Tsuna saw four jet skies waiting for them.

“Separate or together?” Colonello asked. Tsuna shrugged.

“If you’re willing to ride with me at least the first time, I would appreciate it. I’ve never driven anything, let alone water craft before.” She admitted.

“Sure thing, Tsuna.” Colonello agreed. For the first time out, despite her need for speed and tricks, Tsuna took it slow. Colonello proclaimed her a ‘natural’, not that driving a jet ski was all that hard to be honest. There was literally one button and one throttle plus a steering mechanism. The rest of the morning was spent playing on the water with Colonello. Tsuna reluctantly left the water at Reborn and Colonello’s urging for lunch. When she actually reached their shaded area, Tsuna found she was a lot more exhausted and hungrier than she thought while she was out on the water. Wisely neither man said anything about her obvious exhaustion and hunger. Tsuna consumed a half a sandwich, a bag of crisps, and a bowl of mixed fruit before she retired to one of the standing hammocks.

Despite her best intentions, Tsuna quickly drifted off to sleep. When she awoke an hour or two later, Gokudera was out on the water with Reborn while Colonello sat in a chair close to her. The poor security members had been changed out, but Tsuna felt a bit bad for them: standing in the sun like that.

“You know, you should let them stand under the pavilion, at least. It’s somewhat cruel to make them stand at attention in the sun all day like that.” Tsuna commented. Colonello shrugged.

“If you like. They’re used to it, though. Big Famiglia often reserve a set up like this for the Famiglia, complete with security to keep out the riffraff.” He obliged, gesturing to one of the nearby security members. The man in question quickly trotted over as best he could on sand.

“Sir?” He asked.

“The lady would prefer if you all stand in the shade, just under the pavilion.” Colonello sighed. The security man looked surprised but pleased.

“Thank you, Miss.” The man called quietly to Tsuna, bowing his head slightly before he turned to inform the other members of the team.

“Also, we have extra drinks and food here, if any of you are hungry or thirsty.” Tsuna added. Colonello rolled his eyes at her.

“They’re _working,_ Hime.” He scolded lightly. Tsuna sniffed.

“That doesn’t mean they don’t need to stay properly hydrated and fed.” She retorted. Again Colonello gave in to her directions, and the Security team was allowed to take turns picking out a drink and a sandwich each. Neither Tsuna nor Colonello realized it, but with those few simple instructions Tsuna won those men’s loyalty. It was nice that someone cared about them, they thought.

“So, Tsuna, I’d like to learn more about you. Tell me about yourself, please.” Colonello requested. Tsuna turned onto her side to face Colonello.

“Well….let’s see… hmmm. I learn really fast. I’m not a genius like Reborn, but I’m not doing to bad. I’m set to graduate high school soon, and Reborn will be submitting my paperwork to some colleges in Japan and Italy soon. I have three flames, Sky primary and then Cloud and Mist secondaries. I hate traitors more than anything, and I have absolutely nothing to do with Vongola. They’re trying to convince me to become their heiress, but I have been able to resist so far. I will continue to resist so long as _that man_ and the ninth are alive and in power.” She began. The two traded information back and forth before Colonello brought up the subject of his courting.

“I would like to present you with some more tokens and gifts. Are there any specific gifts you would like?” His words made Tsuna tilt her head back and close her eyes thoughtfully.

“Gifts, huh? A music player and personal laptop might be nice. I really enjoyed today, with the jet skies, too.”

“A music player?” He asked softly, and Tsuna returned her gaze to him once more.

“Yeah. I really love music. Singing, listening, dancing too it. Doesn’t matter. Music just…touches me.” She admitted sheepishly. Colonello encouraged Tsuna to speak more about music and her passions, and another half hour or so passed while Tsuna rambled to him about music she loved. Little did poor Colonello realize, more than half the music she mentioned was not available in this world.

Their conversation was interrupted when Gokudera and Reborn returned, looking grim. Colonello and Tsuna were immediately on their feet.

“What is it?” Tsuna demanded.

“It appears the Carcassa’s annual attack on Mafia Land has been moved up to today.” Reborn growled. Tsuna relaxed.

“Oh. That’s traditionally seen more as fun than a serious problem, though, right?” Tsuna questioned.

“People treat it that way, but it you aren’t ready to fight, the Carcassa members _will_ hurt you.” Hayato replied grimly. Tsuna frowned, looking out over the water thoughtfully. She could _just_ make out specks on the horizon which _might_ have been ships or might have been birds on the water. Then there was a loud explosion as some type of torpedo hit the island just below the water. Tsuna winced and hoped there wasn’t anyone down where the explosive hit.

Tsuna bit her thumb and traced it over her wrists. In moments she had a belt with kunai and senbon pouch tied around her waist. She also had a small chakuto strapped to her back and brought out four flame-focus rings. The first, with a bunch of amber gems surrounding a large diamond. Surrounding the circle of amber was another circle with amethysts and the two stones which represented Mists: Kyanite and lapis lazuli surrounding it. The ring was made of white-gold and silver. This ring she slid onto her left fore-finger. Another just like it was donned on her left forefinger. The next ring, a diamond surrounded by a mix of calcite and topaz, she passed to Reborn.

“I meant to give this to you earlier, but there’s been a lot going on. It’s your welcome to the family gift.” Tsuna explained. “Along with this.” And then she pressed her bloody thumb to her wrist once more. A small sword, small enough to match Reborn’s stature, poofed out. The sword gleamed in golden tones, though the metal obviously had no gold in it.

“It will channel all types of your energies.” She explained, and Reborn nodded once sharply. The last ring, a simple silver band with one large sapphire in the very top center, she handed over to a gaping Colonello.

“Consider this a thank-you for your gifts to me today. My gift to you.” Tsuna told the awestruck rain.

“Where did you get these? Flame conductive rings and weapons are notoriously expensive and hard to obtain.” Reborn asked, and Tsuna hummed at him.

“Oh? I made them. It’s easier to ensure the quality and choose the design that way.” Tsuna replied absently, eyes completely focused on the submarines surfacing before them.

“You made them?” Colonello gaped. Tsuna turned her attention to the rain for a moment.

“Yes, just one of my many arts-and-crafts talents.” She laughed. Colonello shook his head at the crazy girl. Arts-and-crafts indeed! Together the group turned to face the oncoming trouble.

* * *

* * *

Omake:

The car turned on the corner of one wheel as it squealed around one corner, leaving rubber behind.

“I didn’t think anyone could drive worse than Skull!” Viper yelled as they went.

“Well, she _did_ say she hadn’t driven anything else before….” Colonello comments blandly, holding onto the bar next to the handle. Their car stopped inches behind the car in front of them. Then, when the light turned green, the car somehow seemed to squeeze between the two cars ahead of them to reach open road once more.

“I will bankrupt you for this, Reborn.” Viper announced, their face a green deep enough to match Colonello’s jacket.

“I resent that description. I am an _excellent_ driver.” Skull huffed from the front seat. “And you’re doing fine, Hime.” Skull added with a placating pat on the girl’s leg. The girl in question _took her eyes off the road_ and beamed at Skull.

“Thank you, Skull.” She chirped, and several of the other occupants of the car winced.

“We needed someone who could reach the pedals, since we stole a normal car and you refused to form stilts for us to drive with.” Reborn retorted to Viper.

“I take it back! Pull over and I’ll make the illusionary stilts!” Viper pledged.

“No time, they’re right behind us!” Tsuna denied. The sound of Viper vomiting in the backseat as the car used a nearby construction ramp to vault the car over a large gap where a bridge _should_ _have been_ and exit onto a freeway going perpendicular to the one they’d been travelling on previously.

“Eew.” Reborn commented blandly.

* * *

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I actually sort of thought this chapter had been posted. Sorry about that! On the bright side, I added like three pages to it before I posted. So, yay! I guess. Especially since I really didn't feel like writing any more after I finished the last three pages. 
> 
> Also: Poor Tsuna…I’m pretty sure she suffered from my being unable to eat anything for the past two days. And being stuck in bed. Hence three plates of breakfast and the beach. Although I don't think she felt like the beach was 'suffering'.
> 
> I feel like Reborn and Gokudera were being good bros to Colonello. Good wingmen, I mean. Because they totally let Colonello spend time 'alone' with her, despite being super-paranoid new Guardians.
> 
> Who were the Arcobaleno/Tsuna trying to escape? Who knows. I just had this vision pop into my head when Tsuna told Colonello she'd never driven anything before.
> 
> I meant to get to the actual attack on Mafia-Land this chapter, but being sick makes me tired and I wanted to post this all for you before going back to bed. Again. I've seriously been spending some quality time with my bed during this sickness. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! 
> 
> In the tradition of Tigger:  
> Ta-Ta-For-Now!
> 
> ~Wingzrooke


	10. Return

* * *

* * *

A large siren wailed through the air, causing Tsuna to wince. That siren was migraine-inducingly loud! The specks in the distance soon became large ships. Tsuna didn’t know what type of ships they were, but to her untrained eye it looked like giant battleships. Giant _purple_ battleships. One the front of each ship was what appeared to be a giant purple octopus-statue, as well. When Tsuna did a quick count, there were about sixty of these ships. As soon as the ships were within the visible range, Colonello pulled out a giant rifle and began firing upon the ships.

The extra-long barrel, with frankly ridiculously huge ammunition, actually shot the ammunition far enough to hit the ships. It was rather baffling to Tsuna, because she didn’t think bullets were capable of traveling that far. Colonello wasn’t the only person firing on the ships, and quite a few sunk. Despite that, about twenty of the ships managed to ‘land’ at the edge of mafia island. Men in purple suits and purple biker helmets rained over the side of the ship and onto Mafia land’s beach. Members of Mafia Land’s security force and most of the Mafioso on the island were already assembled along the beach to meet the invaders.

The next few minutes were a blur of fighting as the wave of invaders finally reached where TsunaKo, her guardians, and Colonello waited. Out of seemingly nowhere, a giant hawk with white plumage edged in black at the ends of wings and tail swooped down towards them and grabbed Colonello by the hair. TsunaKo winced at how painful such a grip must be for the Rain, but Colonello didn’t make a sound of protest.

“I’ll be your arial-support, Kora!” Colonello called as the hawk swooped upwards, Colonello still held in its talons. Almost as soon as Colonello took to the air, a purple octopus grew on the shoreline. It didn’t appear, like it might have if it was hiding in the ocean, or get bigger as it got closer. No, there was a regular-sized octopus one moment and then suddenly there was a Godzilla-sized Octopus the next.

Loud laughter cackled down from the top of the giant octopus. Squinting up at the top, Tsuna could just barely make out a small figure in the same purple outfit as the invaders. Reborn and Colonello both scoffed when they noticed the figure, but Colonello stayed hovering over Tsunako’s area. Tsuna thought it was sort of touching that Colonello was staying to help defend her, along with her two guardians, but Ko thought it was irritating no one seemed to think she could defend herself. Since Colonello and Reborn didn’t go to the Octopus, the Octopus and its rider came to them. Tsunako’s party was obviously the target, as the Octopus started further down and to the right from Tsunako’s party and then headed directly for them.

As it moved closer, the octopus used it’s large tentacles to lift mafia and mafia land security into the air and tossed them into the ocean far enough out that it would take the people a long time to swim back. Assuming they didn’t get run over by the ships or pulled into their propellers, of course.

The octopus stopped several feet away from Tsuna’s group, Reborn and Colonello’s gunshots hitting it. Unfortunately the bullets didn’t seem to do the Octopus much harm. A bullet would enter with a slight spray of blue blood, and then spout a small burst of purple flame. When the purple flame cleared, the wound would be gone and not even a scar remained.

Undeterred, Reborn and Colonello switched to firing at the purple person on top of the Octopus. The figure on top of the Octopus jumped off towards Tsuna’s group, one leg extended as they glided down to the ground. The person (Arcobaleno-sized, she noticed), landed hard and a wave of sand flew out around the figure. Neither Arcobaleno stopped firing at the purple person, regardless of the sand and dust in the air. Tsunako took down the invaders who made it through her guardians. There were more who made it through now that Reborn and Colonello were facing the Octopus-person.

“Skull! Didn’t you learn from the _last_ sixty attacks? You’ll never be able to take over Mafia Island so long as I’m here!” Colonello yelled.

“Lackey, surrender or I will _end you_ , regardless of the Arcobaleno agreement!” Reborn added, looking extremely furious. Reborn’s declaration seemed to surprise ‘Skull’-probably-the-Cloud-Arcobaleno. Even Colonello looked slightly taken-aback. Skull and the Octopus both paused for a moment, looking around as though slightly lost. Looking around herself, Tsunako noted that almost all of the invaders were defeated and tied up.

There were only one or two still fighting or trying to swim back to their ships. Obviously having noted the same thing as Tsunako, Skull sighed and held his hand out towards the octopus. Immediately the octopus shrank until it could fit it was about the size of Skull’s palm, and leapt into the hand. Skull placed the octopus on his shoulder, and then tugged the helmet off.

“Alright, you win this time, Colonello. Reborn, my man, what’s with the death threats? I mean, I’m immortal, so it’s not like I’m scared or anything. But why the sudden urge to kill me?” Skull asked while walking closer.

“It’s not sudden, you’ve always been a major pain. But your reckless and useless attack on Mafia Land put my Sky in danger.” Reborn retorted, glaring at the Cloud. For his part, Skull gaped at Reborn’s announcement.

“Don’t be mad, Reborn. It’s not like I was in any _serious_ danger, and it’s good for all of us to practice our fighting skills.” Tsunako scolded, coming forward and scooping Reborn up into her arms.

“Lackey, this is Tsunako, _my **Sky**_.” Reborn grudgingly introduced. Tsuna shifted Reborn so she had an arm free and knelt to hold out her hand to the tiny Cloud.

“Nice to meet you, Skull.” She greeted. Still looking shocked, the Cloud reached out his own hand to Tsuna. As soon as their hands brushed, purple leather to bare skin, both their Flames exploded from their bodies and wrapped around each other. The bond was instantaneous.

Nothing one moment and the next a strong, vibrant bond hung between them. Tsuna gasped while poor Skull almost fell over. Quickly Tsuna sank down onto her bottom on the sand and pulled her newest Guardian into her lap to snuggle. Off to one side, Colonello was looking jealous while Gokudera and Reborn both scowled at the Cloud.

“Fair warning, Skull. Don’t try to use you ‘mask’ on me. I know how to look underneath the underneath.” Tsuna informed her newest family member.

* * *

Colonello joined the ranks of her guardians about halfway through their stay. It was actually rather sweet. Unlike the rest of her guardians (by choice or chance), Colonello _purposefully_ courted her properly. Every day he presented her with a gift, whether that was the sight of a beautiful sunset/sunrise or flowers. At least one meal a day they spent with just each other. Sometimes this was as simple as a picnic, and sometimes he took her out to fancy restaurants or even something in between. He even cooked for her once or twice, though for those meals her other three guardians usually joined in.

That first Saturday he took her to a romantic restaurant (which got them a lot of weird looks, but it was the only restaurant that served soufflé and she’d been craving it). Afterwards they went ice-skating, and then returned back to the hotel. Usually this was the point where Colonello and she would part ways.

Tonight though, she invited him in. Of course he agreed. It wasn’t like she was asking for anything he couldn’t give (being in a cursed body). They both settled on the floor, and Tsuna questioned him to make sure he’d read the packet Reborn gave him after the first day.

“Are there any questions you had about my requirements for Guardians, or anything else?” She asked seriously. Colonello shook his head.

“You realize you’ll have to break off your relationship with Lal Mirch to become my Guardian, right?” She pressed. Colonello just looked amused.

“I already did. That first night after I met you.” He informed her wryly. Tsuna blinked.

“The first night? You were so sure of my answer?”

“No, but listening to everything all of you said about her…I just realized you were all right. She didn’t treat me well. Even if you’d rejected me, I decided I could do better than what I had with Lal.” Colonello confessed. She wanted to hug him or something, because his expression was tinged with melancholy and regret for a moment, but before she could decide Colonello seemed to mentally shake off the mood that had overcome him at the topic.

“Well, if you’re sure you want to then I would love to have you as my Rain Guardian.” She finally offered. Colonello lit up.

“I’m sure, Hime.” He promised, immediately offering a handful of flame to her. She gently placed her own hand, glowing with Sky flames, over his. Once more the bond was instantaneous. She felt the bond click into place, nestled in on the opposite side of Gokudera’s bonds from Reborn’s bond. The joy they both felt from bonding echoed back and forth between them, and this time Tsuna couldn’t resist pulling Colonello into her lap.

Not even a moment later someone knocked on the door and then her three other Guardians entered the room. Tsuna beamed one of her special Sky smiles at them, sparkles and flowers filling the air around her and eyes shining. Quickly she stood, scooped up both Reborn and Skull, and then went to her bed and flopped down on it backwards. Amused, Hayato came over to sit on the end of the bed by Tsuna’s feet.

“Welcome to the family.” Hayato intoned solemnly. Colonello, still on a high from the bonding, just hummed back at Gokudera. They’d all spent the night together in her bed that night: Hayato in front of her and her three Arcobaleno Guardians curled up on and around her.

* * *

In total, they spent about two weeks at Mafia Land. Half the time was spent relaxing while Colonello worked during the day, and half the time was spent putting all the new Guardians through the chakra training. Now it was Saturday again, though, and Reborn had been pushing to return home if possible since the previous Thursday. TsunaKo’s intuition didn’t warn her of impending danger if they returned, so she agreed they could leave today.

Truthfully she was sad to be leaving. Mafia Land held a lot of good memories for Tsuna, in both this lifetime and others. It wasn’t like she couldn’t visit again, though. Since they were newly bonded, Colonello was taking time off and coming with them back to Namimori. So it wasn’t like she would also be leaving him behind as well as Mafia Land. She might have refused to go if that was the case.

Since they’d been ‘sailing’ on Mafia Land for two weeks, they couldn’t take a boat directly back to Japan. Instead they took a boat to the nearest land mass and then a plane back to Japan. The final leg of the trip was finished with a second plane ride to a small airport just on the outside of Namimori. As they entered Namimori once more, Tsuna frowned.

The same powerful Flame she’d sensed before was still in Namimori, although it didn’t seem to be in ‘attack mode’ any longer. She paused in her steps, torn. On one hand, she felt the need to protect Her Own. On the other hand, she missed home. Her mother’s foster son needed to go to school, and Hayato had been missing school as well. She really aught to get Hayato signed up for online schooling instead. Until then, though, he was missing school.

Her Guardians, sensing her worry, paused and looked back at her. Looking at them, she realized Her Own were really quite strong, and they’d all come a long way with learning chakra and martial arts. She probably didn’t need to worry about anyone except her mom now. She had enough Guardians that even that foreign strong flame would not be a problem to counter.

“Tsunako?” Reborn inquired, and she turned her attention to Reborn.

“They’re still here.” She murmured, and then had to explain to the others all about the angry unknown flame that had come raging into Namimori.

“That reminds me, I meant to tell you. That flame signature you sensed was likely my comrade Fon. I actually wanted you to meet him. I asked him to meet at your house, but then I fell asleep before I could finish texting with him. He got worried when I didn’t respond for eighteen hours.” Reborn sighed, pulling his hat down over his eyes in embarrassment.

“Oh. Well. That’s a little embarrassing. Still, better safe than sorry. Plus I got to meet Colonello and Skull, so it all worked out.” Tsuna hummed. “I suppose I can meet with your friend. As long as you meet with him first and ensure he’s sufficiently calmed, and he promises to be on his best behavior.” Tsuna added reluctantly. She had nothing against Fon himself, but her Cloud instincts were humming just under her skin because she sensed someone she’d thought of as dangerous at one point.

“Naturally.” Reborn agrees easily. The main party split ways with Reborn. The small hitman went to find Fon while Tsuna and the rest continued on their way to the house, luggage in hand. When they got back to the house, Tsuna explained the current rooming situation.

“Reborn is actually sharing my room right now, since part of his contract is bodyguard work. I don’t really mind most nights if any of you would also like to join me in my room. But I want everyone to have their own room just in case. My room’s at the end of the hall,” She began to explain as they finished going up the stairs.

“Gokudera’s room is the last door on the right before my room and Reborn’s is the last door on the left before my room. There’s two rooms available on the right hand side of the hall, and three on the left. Do either of you have any preferences about which room you would like?”

“Are they all the same?” Skull inquired, and Ri nodded.

“Yes. All the same dimensions and amenities. There are rooms downstairs for workshops, if you want or need one.” Tsuna agreed.

“Then it doesn’t matter to me which room I get, though I would prefer either the one next to Gokudera’s room or Reborns.” Skull shrugged.

“Then I’ll put you in the room next to Gokudera’s. Colonello? What about you?”

“I’m fine with anything.” Colonello shrugged.

“Alright, then I’ll put you in the room next to Skull.” Tsuna directed, all the while Ko was thinking: **_that way Skull will have someone with Rain flames on either side of his room to serve as a bit of a buffer between himself and the others. It will keep other flames and his cloud flames from feeding off each other._** Room assignments over with for now, the group quickly put away their luggage and then washed up for supper.

Nana, as usual, finished before everyone else and was already halfway through making dinner when the three of them entered the kitchen. The sound of Lambo watching television came from the small family room down the hall. Tsunako quickly joined her mother in cooking while the boys set the table in the large dining room. This meant that when Reborn returned, his colleague Fon in tow, there were already enough places set for Fon to join them.

Naturally he protested them going to the extra trouble, but Tsuna pointed out they’d already cooked all the food and set a place for him. If Fon didn’t join them, it would simply go to waste. In the end Tsuna persuaded Fon to join them, and everyone sat down around the large table in the large dining room for the first time. It was also the first dinner with Skull and Colonello in Tsuna’s home. After a quick prayer, everyone dug in.

“Reborn explained what happened to me, and I would like to apologize for frightening you before.” Fon offered to Tsunako.

 **“Don’t worry about it.”** Ko directed absently. **“It all turned out fine, in the end.”** She added. The rest of the meal was spent in silence, excepting Lambo’s usual noises and Nana interacting with her foster son. Once dinner was finished, Nana and Tsuna cleared the table while Lambo was chivvied back into the small family room by Hayato.

“Now that dinner’s been cleared away, will you tell me what your new plan is, Reborn?” Fon inquired. Reborn opened his mouth, with that particular gleam in his eyes that meant chaos, and Tsunako intervened.

 **“I believe his ‘plan’ is to see if you would make a good Storm Guardian for me.”** Ko drawled, and Reborn pouted. Fon turned to Reborn, one eyebrow raised.

“Are you also checking Skull and Colonello, then? I did wonder why they were also here…” Fon mused.

“Not at all.” Reborn refuted. “Skull, Colonello, Gokudera, and I are already our Hime’s Guardians.” He added with a bit of glee.

“I see.”

“Tsunako, I didn’t yet have the chance to properly introduce Fon. Fon is, as you likely guessed, the Storm Arcobaleno. He works as an enforcer and assassin for the Triads. He is also a master of 107 martial arts styles. He’s related to the Hibaris as well.

“Is that so? I don’t suppose you’d be willing to grant me a spar?” Tsunako requested politely. Fon’s usual serene smile sharpened at the edges and looked a little more dangerous when he heard the request.

“I would be honored.” The small man agreed.

“Spars are to take place outside or in the dojo.” Reborn immediately ordered. Tsunako rolled her eyes but obligingly led the way outside and across the lawn to the sports and learning center. A spar with Fon was something to look forward to.

* * *

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again. I'm back to my regular story writing. Now that NANOWRIMO is over (which I "won" for the first time ever!), I'm going to try to get back to working on this story and my Naruto Second Life story.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
> 
> Till next time:
> 
> ~Wingzrooke


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